Sydney Gstettenbauer
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- Title:
- Assistant Coach
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- Phone:
- 805-652-7779
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- Email:
- sgstettenbauer@vcccd.edu
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- Years at VC:
- 3rd Year
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- Bachelor's Degree:
- B.S. UC San Diego, 2009
Ventura native Sydney Gstettenbauer is in her third season assisting with the Pirates' women's water polo team. Her water polo career began at Ventura High School in 2000 and she had a stellar career for the Cougars, primarily as a 2-meter defender. Upon her graduation four years later she had accumulated many team accolades as well as All-Tournament recognition, first-team All-County and the 2004 Ventura County Star Scholar Athlete Award.
Sydney continued her water polo career and education at UC San Diego and found her nitch in the pool as a driver/attacker. In 2007, she received first-team All-American, All-Academic team and led her team in assists for that year. In 2008 her water polo career started to climb the ladder of success as she received first-team All-Conference, first-team All-American, All-American Academic team, second-team All-Tournament and led her team with the most single season goals (82), as well as, leading the team in number of steals for the season.
Sydney's senior year began with some apprehension, as she had to overcome a rotator cuff tear in her left shoulder that she suffered in summer practice. However, she was determined to not let all her hard work go to waste. She tied the school record for single season goals at 84, finishing her career with 207 goals. She continued to lead her team in steal as well as assists. She was named the NCAA Division II Player of the Year, first-team All-American, first-team All-Conference, first-team All-Tournament and All-American Academic Team. She graduated from UCSD in the spring of 2009 with a B.S. in Environmental Systems, Earth Science.
Determined to continue her water polo career, Sydney looked for places to play overseas. In 2010 she flew to Adelaide, Australia and made that her new home for five months, playing for the Adelaide Jets in the Australian National Team League. The Adelaide Jets coaches asked her to return for the 2011 season, however, problems with her visa prohibited her return.
Sydney also began refereeing water polo her senior year in high school and continues to referee for age group and the high school level. She also continues to compete, having completed an Ironman Triathlon this past summer. Sydney always looks forward to new and exciting challenges!