On November 20, 2021, at 3:10pm, West Valley College athletic history was made. For the first time in school history, and only the second time ever for a NorCal team, West Valley won the CCCAA Women's Water Polo State Championship. The title was the result of the amazing work ethic through two challenging years by 12 student-athletes, two assistant coaches and one head coach, Erika Vargas, who accomplished something no coach in the history of CCCAA water polo had ever done.

Vargas became the first female coach to win a water polo state championship in the 26-year history of the women's tournament. In five short years, she has led the Vikings to five consecutive undefeated Coast Conference crowns, three NorCal titles, state third-place finishes in 2019 and 2022 and the 2021 state championship. 

After winning the 2021 title, Vargas said, "We've been through so much the last two years, with COVID. But, we stood together as one, stuck to our game plan this weekend and took care of business. This was my goal since I was hired and we did it!"

And to top that off, her West Valley women’s swimming team won the Coast Conference championship and had, in Marie Lucquet, an individual state champion for the fourth time since she came to West Valley. Her Vikings won their second straight Coast Conference swimming title in 2023. 

Few, if any, California community college coaches, in any sport, have gone undefeated in their first five years of conference competition. Vargas has done just that. Her 2021 squad was 32-2 overall, 9-0 in the Coast. Her Vikings rolled through the NorCal tournament and, in the CCCAA championship, defeated Fullerton 14-11 in the semifinal and held off Santa Barbara 6-5 to win the state title. Vargas was named the state, NorCal and Coast Conference Coach of the Year in water polo and was the Coast Coach of the Year in swimming. She earned NorCal and Coast water polo Coach of the Year honors in 2022 after her Vikings went 27-5 overall, 7-0 in the Coast, won the NorCal championship and finished third in the state. 

in 2019, she capped off her third season at the helm of the Viking polo with an unprecedented third place finish at the 2019 CCCAA State Water Polo Championships. Her 2019 team won the NorCal championship with a 13-7 over defending champion Sierra. For the third straight year, West Valley went undefeated in the Coast Conference in both the regular season and the post-season tournament. Vargas was named the NorCal Coach of the Year and picked up her third-consecutive Coast Coach of the Year award.

In her brief WVC career, Vargas has an overall record of 129-28 and a Coast mark of 48-0. Her Vikings have outscored opponents 2066-736 overall, and 792-121 in Coast competition. She has mentored 23 All-Americans (and many more in swimming), 23 All-NorCal players, 36 All-Coast players, five consecutive Coast MVPs (Kendall McCarrick - 2017, Sabrina Estevez - 2018, Raquel de Pinho - 2019, Grace Smith - 2021, Kianna Melvin - 2022), three NorCal MVPs (Nadja Novakovic - 2019, Grace Smith - 2021, Johanna Scheer - 2022), a state Player of the Year (Grace Smith - 2021) and four Coast Goalkeepers of the Year (McCarrick - 2017, de Pinho - 2019, Smith - 2021 & 2022). West Valley All-America swimmer Sayeh Faridnia captured three state titles in 2017 and 2018 under Vargas's guidance.

Prior to West Valley, Vargas was the head women's and assistant men's polo coach at her alma mater, the University of La Verne in suburban Los Angeles. She played four years of water polo and swam two years at Mt. San Antonio College and La Verne. She was an All-American at Mt. SAC and led the ULV women to a second-place NCAA DIII finish in 2016 and a third-place NCAA finish in 2017.

Up until the 2021 water polo state championship, her favorite Viking moment was winning NorCals in 2019. After finishing a dissapointing fourth in 2018, the 2019 Vikings, "trained every day as if we were playing for first place. It definitely paid off as we defeated, hands down, the defending state champ. It was surreal, a breathtaking moment I will forever cherish." 

Vargas believes West Valley is the perfect stepping stone for a student athlete. "Playing at West Valley prepares a player athletically for the next level. We are the Viking Family and we preach positivity and hard work in and out of the classroom." An athlete who chooses West Valley will get, "a championship environment without the huge pressure of a four-year school. She will acquire all the tools needed for the next level athletically AND academically."

In her four years in Saratoga, she has come to appreciate the camaraderie and support of the campus. "I can truly say I've never been a part of an institution where I can look up in the stands at a game and see the chancellor, the president and multiple deans in the crowd."

Her late father, Albert, was a huge influence on her life and coaching style. A former water polo player and swimmer, her dad, "always encouraged me to keep sports in my life no matter the adversity that came my way. He watched me grow as an athlete and coach and always gave me pointers and life lessons." Albert's influence has led Vargas to, "expect positivity, honesty and grit the moment they step on the pool deck, day in and day out. I give my players tough love, and the motivation to power through anything. With that comes wins and fun." She wants her athletes to leave WVC with great time management skills because, "with good time management skills, they can accomplish anything."

Her success, in only four years, foretells of an unlimited future for her and the West Valley women's water polo program. Vargas looks forward to building her "Viking Family". For her, Viking water polo is, "not just a sport, we are building an extended family, and I hope our players want to come back and see that what they've helped build is still going strong."

For more information about West Valley women's water polo, contact Coach Vargas at erika.vargas@westvalley.edu.

Coach Vargas Year-By-Year at West Valley: