6:15am | The Long Beach City College (LBCC) men’s water polo team will continue its quest for the program’s ninth state championship beginning November 18, when the Vikings face West Valley College (WVC) in the semifinals of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Water Polo State Championships. The two-day tournament will be played at nearby Cerritos College.
 
Under coaches Chris Oeding and Dave Kasa, the Long Beach men are making their ninth trip to the state tournament in 11 years. LBCC looks to capture its first state title since 2006.
 
Long Beach (26-3 overall), the South’s No. 2 seed, faces the North’s top seed West Valley College (22-11) in a battle on Friday’s 10:30am semifinal game. This will mark the first meeting of 2011 between LBCC and West Valley. Long Beach is 1-2 this season against Golden West and lost to Diablo Valley 14-12 in their lone meeting this season.

Long Beach earned its trip to the state championships thanks to a second-place finish at the Southern California Regional Championships this past weekend at Riverside City College.

Also, the LBCC women’s water polo team had its string of 10 consecutive appearances at the state championships come to an end this past weekend after its third-place finish at the Southern California Regionals. Long Beach beat Fullerton College 12-9 in a the quarterfinals but suffered an 8-3 loss to Riverside in the semifinals. The Vikings bounced back with an 11-4 win over Cerritos in the third-place game. The LBCC women closed the 2011 season with a 20-10 overall record.