In the League opener on Wednesday, Sep.17, the Ripon High girls water polo team faced Sierra and came up short, losing 26-8. Even though, the score wasn’t what the team wanted, they pushed through and played a great game. This truly was an learning experience for the girls in the water. It gave them a chance to regroup, learn, and refocus on what the rest of the season will look like.
We started off strong with striker, freshman Cooper Russell, getting the ball and passing it to freshman Rori Staley, who went in for the shot, but came a bit short. The girls swam right back to defend the cage where goalie, freshman Hunterbelle Browne Lyles, was alert and ready for what was to come. Coach Lauren McGowan was cheering the girls on and was making sure the girls were ready for what was to come next. The girls worked hard that first quarter.
After the first quarter, they had to tighten up the defense. Sierra was getting throws to the pockets, but when they dropped the ball, freshman Lauren Durao, was ready to strike. Like a dolphin, she swam and got the ball. After a struggle to get her legs underneath her, she the passed to, junior Shelby Kahan, who swam with the ball and threw it to, freshman Kendall Alexander, who went for the shot, but got blocked. After many tries we got fouled and Kendall took the free throw and we got our first point.
The girls enjoyed playing the game and saw it as a real learning experience. Freshman Kendall Alexander said, “My favorite part of the game was spending time with my friends.” When asked what the team could improve on she had explained to us that, “practicing more and being more vocal.”
Hunterbelle Browne Lyles, freshman, was asked what would’ve been a more ideal situation, “I think that we did good. I think we could have been on defense a bit more, but I think overall we did pretty good for our first game.” Treading water for thirty minutes straight can be a hard thing to do, so Hunterbelle was asked what she, personally could work on, “I think I could work on getting more high, like out of the water and lunging to the ball more.”
Sierra was good on offense, which meant that Ripon High girls had to step up their game. The girls were really tired the last half of the game, but they pushed through. The girls played great. But, not everything is as it seems above the surface. There’s also a lot happening under the water, Cooper Russell said, “Okay, so number 7 would play this weird trick and they would probably did it about fifteen times and scored about fifteen points on us with that one trick. It made me so mad because I just really wanted her to stop.”
All in all, for their first game at the varsity level, these girls played amazing. They showed amazing sportsmanship and great teamwork. They showed true perseverance and integrity. Even though the score wasn’t what the crowd or the girls had wanted, they did great!
