Cuesta Women's Water Polo finished 3rd at the 2024 Western State Conference Tournament and secured the program's first winning season since the pandemic, while also earning a third straight playoff berth under Coach Rachel Gruetzmacher.  The Cougars split a pair of one-point games in the WSC Final Four, with an identical score or 11-10, to claim the WSC's "Team Bronze".  The Cougars entered the WSC Championship as the #2-seed, but fell, 11-10 in overtime, in the semi-final to tournament host Citrus.  The Cougars bounced back on "Championship Saturday" to salvage Third Place by beating Ventura in regulation, 11-10.  The Cougars are 19-13 overall on the season.  

The Poloists earned the 7th-seed in the 2024 CCCAA Southern Regional Playoffs this weekend at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.  The top four seeds in the tournament shall receive a first-round bye, so seeds 5-through-12 shall play on Thursday, before the "Elite 8" play the final elimination rounds on Friday and Saturday, On Thursday (11:30), the Cougars are set to square-off with a familiar foe, #10-seed Ventura.  Thursday's meeting shall be their third of the season.  The Pirates claimed their first meeting in a Western State Conference game at Ventura, 10-9, on October 9, while the Cougars took the 3rd Place at last week's WSC Tournament, 11-10, in another one-goal game.  The winner shall meet #2-seed Riverside in the CCCAA Quarterfinals.  The Tigers and Crafton Hills are the only programs in the State that Cuesta has never beaten, although they have never faced Crafton Hills.