{"id":7445,"date":"2020-06-17T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=7445"},"modified":"2026-05-13T18:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:27:18","slug":"coyote-record-holder-is-three-time-all-american","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/coyote-record-holder-is-three-time-all-american\/","title":{"rendered":"Coyote record holder is three-time All-American"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When Jessica Diaz left Madera High School in 2017, the rest of the Central Section girls water polo coaches breathed a collective sigh of relief.<\/p>

Diaz wouldn\u2019t be around anymore to torment them. The Coyote record holder for goals scored in a season and a career took her talents to San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton and then to Cal-Lutheran College in Thousand Oaks and hasn\u2019t stopped scoring.<\/p>

This past water polo season, Diaz earned her third straight All-American honor. She was named honorable mention All-American by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches at the end of April although the season was cut short.<\/p>

She started all 12 games and was third on the team with 17 steals, second with 13 assists and scored 12 goals<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019ve done really well and I\u2019m having a lot of fun. It\u2019s amazing, Diaz said. \u201cWe started season in February and we played some games, but only got one league game. The next day, after we played that game, they said the season was over and then school was canceled. It\u2019s been a lot. It\u2019s a good teaching moment from being able to do something. It makes you appreciate it a lot more when it\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>

One thing Diaz had a knack for was to be a clutch scorer with game-tying and game-winning shots, including one to win the third place match in the CCCAA State Championship during her freshman season.<\/p>

\u201cFor some reason, when it\u2019s really important, those clutch goals happen,\u201d she said. \u201cHigh school, junior college and college is teaching me a lot. It\u2019s unbelievable to me. When I watch the videos, I think that\u2019s me?\u201d<\/p>

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Cal Lutheran shut down its campus. Diaz\u2019s season was over after 12 matches and she was sent home.<\/p>

\u201cMy parents went and got me,\u201d she said. \u201cThe school didn\u2019t let anyone stay and told us to go home. I have one more year and will, hopefully, go back. It\u2019s so nice, the weather is nice, the people are fantastic. The teachers and people around are so amazing.\u201d<\/p>

Diaz hasn\u2019t missed a beat since leaving Madera and has excelled at every level.<\/p>

\u201cHigh school to junior college was a baby step,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was a lot of stuff I didn\u2019t know. The coaches taught me everything and set me up for junior college so it wasn\u2019t a such big jump. When I went from community college to Cal Lutheran, it was also a small step, a nice step. I was being taught all kinds of new stuff. Things I knew, they added on. It was nice instead of high school to a four-year. I thought that would have been really hard and I wouldn\u2019t have played much.\u201d<\/p>

Diaz is majoring in criminal justice and criminology and plans to stay at Cal Lutheran to get a masters in public policy.<\/p>

\u201cI hope to work at the Madera Sheriff\u2019s Department as a patrol officer,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope to go to the academy and make my way there. I looked into the diving and water rescue. That is something of interest, especially since I love the water so much.\u201d<\/p>

In reflecting, Diaz doesn\u2019t know where her life would have taken her without water polo. She knows it would be different, but is happy where she is now.<\/p>

\u201cThe team becomes my family,\u201d she said. \u201cThat high school group had become a family to me. Without them, things would be a lot different. They supported me the whole way and they keep in touch. Water polo has made me such a better person. It made me feel like a part of a team. That teamwork is everything and having a family like that is awesome.\u201d<\/p>

Diaz is three years removed from high school water polo and this year\u2019s group was the last class she played with and is proud of their success, including having four members sign National Letters of Intent to play water polo or swim at a four-year university.<\/p>

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s been three years,\u201d she said. \u201cTime just flew with how much fun I have been having. The next thing you know, it will be my senior year. I have kept up with those seniors. I am so proud. It\u2019s amazing that they get to experience all the things I get to do, the travel, the team, the competitiveness. It builds your character and it builds you to be a better person, which is incredible. I keep up because I\u2019m curious about what they are doing. Hopefully, I get to play against Lola (Gil at Salem University) or Emily ( at Fresno Pacific). We play Fresno Pacific in tournaments.\u201d<\/p>

Earning All-American honors in college is nothing new to Diaz now. However, she didn\u2019t even know she was an All-American after her first year at Delta.<\/p>

\u201cI had no idea,\u201d she said. \u201cI thought what is this. Awards and stuff is not things I expect or look for. I work hard and try my best, especially for my team. I had no idea the first time. The second time, I had an idea after the first time. At Cal Lutheran, I had no idea because my team is full of incredible players. Just to be up there with them is great. I\u2019m this person from Madera who did this. Next year, I don\u2019t expect it. I\u2019m going to work as hard as I can to get it again. It\u2019s kind of a reward for my hard work.\u201d<\/p>

Diaz hopes her success in college can help her motivate athletes at Madera to reach for their goals.<\/p>

\u201cIt shows me that I can do it,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I can do it, then other people from home can do it, too. I hope they know that it\u2019s hard work and they can do it. It\u2019s cool to look at and think about.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Jessica Diaz left Madera High School in 2017, the rest of the Central Section girls water polo coaches breathed a collective sigh of relief. Diaz wouldn\u2019t be around anymore to torment them. The Coyote record holder for goals scored in a season and a career took her talents to San Joaquin Delta College in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":41196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-7445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-schools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}