After making an appearance in the CIF-SS D3 finals last year, the girls water polo team has used their off-season to prepare themselves to complete five goals: to win three regular season tournaments, a consecutive Bay League title and a strong CIF push.
With a regular season record of 26-0, four of the implemented goals have already been completed.
“The key to our success this year has come from focusing on our team performance, one game at a time. While we did have overarching goals for the season,” said junior and team captain Sydney Wynn. “I think we did a good job focusing on playing good team water polo and giving every game our all instead of worrying about the results. We have a lot of individual talent on our team and a diverse mix of ages.”
The team is led by senior captains Jane Girard and Maddie Marohn who have made a lasting impact as mentors of the primarily underclassman based team.
This includes starting freshman attackers Kylie Nishimira and Ella Keene.
Going undefeated in the regular season set the tone indefinitely.
The once-Division 4 team has entered CIF-SS as the top seed of Division 1.
When coach Zach Graper took the ropes for the 2021-2022 season, the team was in shambles with a record of 6-18.
However, under Graper, the team has continued to improve and grow into a now undefeated group.
“Having an undefeated regular season is extremely rare,” said Wynn.
“So we didn’t consider that as one of our goals at the beginning of the season. But as the season went on and our record improved, we developed a ‘winning mentality’ and confidence that we didn’t have in previous years.”
Last year, transfer Girard along with current sophomores Abbey Higgins and Rachel Smart joined the team. New faces and new talents were welcomed.
With this year’s team consisting mainly of returning players, a large part of the domination was sourced from team chemistry that has improved greatly over the course of off-season.
“Over the off season, the discussions we had regarding our individual and team goals helped set the tone for our season,” said Higgins.
“Next season, I want to maintain the momentum and community that we built together this season, welcoming freshmen into not just our team but our family.”