Delta athletics end 2015 on high note

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The year of 2015 is in the record books for athletic teams at San Joaquin Delta College.

The women’s soccer program led by Northern California Coach of the Year Adrienne Sorenson established two program records by going 15-4-3 throughout the season, and posting 15 shut-outs, that led state.

The Lady Mustangs’ season ended in the playoffs against Cosumnes River Hawks in the first round of the postseason.

“Our sophomores worked so hard in the off-season and they really set the tone for the incoming freshmen … they just jumped on board,” said sophomore goalkeeper Shaunna Ridge. “It starts from Adrienne’s leadership and it trickled down to our captains, the rest of our sophomores, and we’re all just very competitive and very strong minded so we knew this was going to be our year.”

Delta men and women’s water polo programs posted overall records of 22-12 and 23-8.

Men’s water polo finished second in the Big 8 conference and third at the NorCal championships.

Women’s water polo earned second place at the NorCal championships and placed fourth in state.

The Mustang’s volleyball team went on to earn the No. 4 seed in the postseason. The ladies defeated Butte College and Sierra College , before falling to eventual state champion Cabrillo College on Dec. 1.
The ladies finished with a 21-6 overall record and earned their 19th Big 8 championship title in program history after going 12-2 in conference.

This success didn’t go unnoticed as head coach Molly Mordaunt was awarded her second consecutive Big 8 Coach of the Year, and sophomore Cassidy Caton was announced the Big 8 Most Valuable Player as well.

Finally, the Delta College football team captured its first bowl game championship since 2012 after defeating American River College by the score of 24-17 in the Gridiron Classic on Nov. 21.

This bowl victory capped a five game winning streak that helped Delta improve to 7-4 on the season after winning only one game all of last year.

“It feels good because of what Delta went through last year winning one game, for us to win all these games and then the bowl,” said freshman running back Jamill Thomas. “It’s going to change a lot of views about Delta.”