The West Valley men's water polo team ventured down south to face four of SoCal's top teams in the 2023 Mt. SAC Invitational Sept. 15-16. They returned to Saratoga with four wins as they head into Coast Conference play next week.

WVC (9-2) opened the tourney with a 22-7 win over Palomar (3-8) behind on offense that saw nine different Vikings find the back of the cage at least once. Berkecan Yalcin led the way with five tallies, followed by four each from Anzo Baumer and Frank Sunseri, and three from Ethan MacLeod. Luca Antonino played all 32 minutes in goal, turning away ten shots and coming up with four steals.

The Vikings outscored Orange Coast (6-4) 5-1 in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Pirates 20-14. Yalcin again paced the Vikings with a game-high seven goals, while Phil Portisch had six and MacLeod three. Ethan Ivey had nine saves on his way to the win in goal.

West Valley surged to a 14-5 halftime lead en route to a 19-7 victory over Cuesta (5-3), a 2022 state final four team. Terrence O'Donnell led the way with a game-high six goals, followed by Sy Lazzaroni's five and three from Portisch. Ivey had 14 saves on his way to the win in goal.

The tourney wrapped Saturday afternoon with WVC taking on host Mt. San Antonio. The Mounties (10-3) took a 12-10 lead with 3:22 left in the third quarter, but four straight Viking goals gave them a 14-12 advantage heading into the fourth. Two scores from Yalcin, and one each from Portisch and Shayan Rezvani countered one from Mountie Brandon Fabrega for the 18-13 final. Antonino picked up the win in goal.

West Valley opens Coast Conference action Sept. 27 at Las Positas College (0-2). The ball drops at 4:15pm.