SAN DIEGO, CA (12/21/2022) -- As the year draws to a close, it's time to reflect on the fall season for our institutions and student-athletes. Across seven fall sports, five different institutions claimed a Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Championship title. The conference also made noise in the postseason as Grossmont College women's volleyball made the Final Four, San Diego Mesa College's cross country programs placed as teams at State, and numerous other teams made the postseason.
Women's Volleyball
Grossmont College won the conference title after going undefeated in conference play. After climbing the state rankings all season, the Griffins found themselves as high as No. 4 in the State. When the playoff bracket came out, they were snubbed with a No. 9 seeding and had to hit the road to face Pasadena City College after a first-round bye. The Griffins defeated the Lancers 3-2 in a five-set thriller to advance to the next round. Still, on the road, they faced Ventura College and won 3-1 to advance to the State Final Four round in Fresno for the State Championship Tournament. They ended their season against Feather River College after a 3-0 sweep. San Diego Mesa College finished the conference in second place with a 14-2 record. They also qualified for the playoffs where they hosted Santa Barbara City College. The Vaqueros won in five to finish the Olympians' season. MiraCosta College finished the conference schedule in third place with a 12-4 record. Also qualifying for the playoffs, the Spartans hosted Golden West in the opening round and won 3-1 to advance to the second round. On the road against Ventura College, the Spartans saw their season end in a 3-0 sweep.
Men's Cross Country
San Diego Mesa College won its fourth consecutive conference title. Cuyamaca College finished in second place. Both teams qualified for the CCCAA SoCal Regional as teams. Mesa then qualified for the State Championship race as a team. They finished in second place after falling short against Mt. San Antonio College. Mesa finished with 62 points. David Millan was a large part of the Olympians' success this season and he placed fourth at the state race with a time of 20:10.8.
Women's Cross Country
San Diego Mesa College repeated as conference champions as Cuyamaca College finished in second and San Diego City College took third. All three teams qualified for the CCCAA SoCal Regional race. Mesa's women's team also qualified for the State Championship race, where like the men, finished in second behind Mt. San Antonio College. The finish was the program's best since its 1994 State Championship. They finished with a score of 138. Mohussin Abakar, the conference champion, was the top finisher for the Olympians at State with a fifth-place finishing time of 18:31.3.
Men's Soccer
MiraCosta College sailed through conference play this season, won the first men's soccer conference title in program history with a 9-1-2 record and reached the first round of the CCCAA SoCal Regional tournament where they faced Rio Hondo College. Cuyamaca College finished in second place with an 8-1-3 conference record while Palomar took third finishing 8-4. Both Cuyamaca and Palomar qualified for the SoCal Regional and advanced to the second round where both teams finished their seasons. The Cuyamaca Coyotes finished their season with a conference-best 11-3-8 record, while the Comets had the most wins at 12-7-3.
Women's Soccer
Southwestern College finished the conference schedule with a 12-0-2 record and claimed the title that sent them to the SoCal Regional. After defeating Golden West College 6-4 in overtime, they advanced to the second round and finished their season with a 1-0 loss to Santa Barbara City College. MiraCosta College took second place with a 12-1-1 record and also made the SoCal Regional which lost on penalty kicks to El Camino College. San Diego Mesa College finished in third place with a 9-4-1 record. The Olympians advanced to the second round of the SoCal Regional where they also finished their season with a 4-0 loss to Chaffey College.
Men's Water Polo
Grossmont College went back-to-back to win their second consecutive conference championship after defeating Southwestern College 13-6 to finish with a perfect 7-0 record. As conference champions, they advanced to the CCCAA SoCal Regional where they faced Saddleback College and lost 12-8 in the opening round. Southwestern finished in second with a 5-2 record. Palomar finished in third place with a 5-3 record and a 15-12 win over San Diego Mesa College in the conference tournament.
Women's Water Polo
Palomar claimed their third consecutive conference championship with a 7-6 win over San Diego Mesa to finish 7-0 in the conference. They qualified for their third SoCal Regional in as many years and finished their season with a 7-6 loss to Golden West College on day one. Mesa finished in second with a 3-2 record and Grossmont finished in third place with an 8-7 win over Southwestern in the conference tournament.
Congrats to all our programs and student-athletes on an outstanding fall season!