Cuesta Men's Water Polo went 1-3 last week, but their opening victory at Los Angeles Valley, 15-13, put the Aqua-Cats atop the Western State Conference standings.  The Cougars travelled to Valley Glen last Wednesday to play the Monarchs, who are the only other team in the WSC to win a title over the past 15 seasons.  The foes have also met in the conference title game each of the past three seasons.  The Cougars won the title, again, last year, but LA Valley repaid the favor by knocking them out in the first round of the CCCAA Playoffs.  Last Wednesday's game was another classic, as the Cougars held off their hosts from wire-to-wire for a narrow victory, 15-13.  Cuesta's All American Driver Johnny Starr scored the first of his game-high three goals in the first minute of the game and Cuesta went on to outscore their foes by identical margins, 4-3, in each of the first three quarters.  LA Valley rallied in the 4th quarter, outscoring the Cougars, 4-3, but could not complete the comeback in front of their home crowd.  After their big win, the Cougars headed south to Orange County for a three-game tournament the next day.  On Friday, Cuesta faced four-year universities Mount Saint Mary's and McKendree, before closing the week against Riptide Club.  The Cougars opened with a loss to Mount Saint Mary's, 14-11, before also dropping a pair of games on-goal heartbreaks to McKendree, 15-14, and Riptide, 16-15. None of their three setbacks will affect their post-season chances, but they should prepare the Cougars for the rest of their regular-season schedule with 14 games over the last 21 days of October. 

Cuesta Water Polo's record, at 8-9 overall, is in a rare place right now, for a program that has never endured a losing record, during a full season, or missed an invitation to the post-season.  The closest the Cougars have ever come to a losing season was when they entered the 1997 Western State Conference Tournament with a 14-15 record.  That season, behind All American Mark Merlo and all-State selection Jon Barnea, the Cougars won three straight games to win the conference title and advance to the post-season.  The Cougars are back in action this Saturday with another trip South to play two more non-CCCAA teams.  The Cougars open the day at Pomona-Pitzer (1PM) and face Whittier (5 PM) on the way home.  Their game against the Poets will also include some familiar faces with former Cougars Jordan Northcutt (pict) and Conner Rocha, who both transferred after last season, playing for the home team.