LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Women's Water Polo Head Coach Sarah Orozco utilizes her unique personal experiences with water polo, her Hispanic culture and faith to help her lead Biola's first ever women's water polo program.

Growing up in East Los Angeles Sarah Orozco has always embraced her Hispanic culture. Her parents are from Zacatecas, Mexico and family members from both sides of her family migrated to the United States via the Bracero Programs. 

"The inspiration was to just have an opportunity at a better life," said Orozco. "They did it for us," with the hope of having better opportunities for their families and the next generation here in the United States.

Originally introduced to the sport at what is now the Brenda Villa Aquatic Center in Commerce, California, Orozco and her family quickly realized the talent that Sarah and her sister Priscilla had in the water. 

"In my culture when we do something we do it with all that we have and with everything we are capable of." Orozco did just that as she began to develop her skills in the pool. 

Orozco traveled across the country representing the United States as a member of the US Youth National Water Polo Team. She went on to play at Montebello High School where she helped lead her team to back-to-back CIF-Southern Section finals.

Following in the footsteps of her older sister Priscilla, Orozco committed to play water polo at UCLA. Orozco tallied 84 goals, 23 assists and 38 steals in her four-year career as a Bruin. 

In the spring of 2011, Orozco was recruited by the Mexican National Water Polo team where she would train and eventually compete in the World University Games, Pan American Games and an Olympic Trial.  

Having represented the United States as a member of the US Youth National Water Polo Team, the opportunity to represent her roots, the country that her parents migrated from to give her family better opportunities, was something that Orozco could not pass up. 

"It was an opportunity for me to embrace who I was, who my family was and embrace our culture." Not only was Orozco presented with the opportunity to represent Mexico, but she was also given the opportunity to grow the sport of water polo across her culture where the sport is not well known.

"It was an incredible experience to be able to represent my country and family on both sides as a Mexican-American," said Orozco. 

After playing professionally for three years in Brazil, Barcelona and Australia, Orozco returned home and began her coaching career at Azusa Pacific University. Her unique experiences presented her with the opportunity to become not only Biola's first ever water polo coach, but also the first Hispanic water polo head coach in the NCAA.

Orozco takes pride in coupling her experiences and the lessons that she's learned from her culture, faith and the sport of water polo and other coaches and mentors along the way to now best prepare her student-athletes, many of which like her are first and second generation Hispanic females. 

When she first began playing water polo, Orozco was one of a handful of Hispanic females playing the sport of water polo. Now, she strives to continue to push the sport not only into her own culture but others as well as she recruits first and second generation and international students for the inaugural Biola Women's Water Polo team.