Nirvan Shah

Team poses for team photo next to pool deck

At the end of the regular season, the boys’ water polo team has a 3-11 league record, having rebounded from a 0-5 start. The team has their eyes set on clinching a title as they advance to leagues next week.

This change in fortunes is mainly due to star player and Harker transfer center Nikhil Chadha gaining eligibility to play halfway through the season. With this newfound hope and confidence, the team has their eyes set on going undefeated from now on.

Despite having a solid starting six players, the Falcons have struggled with roster depth, which has led to player fatigue, frequent turnovers and defensive lapses. Additionally, the team has been frequently penalized, which eventually leads to 6 on 5 situations because the penalized player is substituted out for 30 seconds. Junior right wing Nirvan Shah said penalties have led to multiple goals for the opposition. Injuries are also hindering the team’s performance. Star sophomore flat Brian Le tore his shoulder during practice, potentially sidelining him for the rest of the season. 

Another key issue has been the team’s hesitancy to take their open look shots, so the team has been reviewing film, trying to improve their decisiveness. 

“I think people are still scared of shooting the ball and making mistakes, because if they make a mistake in water polo, it’s a turnover, and that’s a point to the other team,” Shah said. “They were really hesitant to make mistakes. But now, people are starting to open up and we are getting some good shots.”

With Chadha being eligible to play as of Oct. 1, he has brought newfound hope to the team. In his previous three years at Harker, his team was league champions every year and brought the first D2 CCS title to the water polo program in his freshman year. In his sophomore and junior years, Harker competed in the Open Division (the highest division in CCS), and played against the best teams in the state — including Sacred Heart and Bellarmine — whose lineups are filled with D1 prospects. 

All the boys’ losses since Chadha’s return have been by a single point.

Despite the numerous struggles the team endures, 3 players on the team are top in the league in their respective stats. Chadha with goals per game (roughly 6.4 per game), Shah with assists per game 9 per game) and senior goalie Armon Vuppala for blocks per game (13.5 per game).

On their senior night, the boys celebrated their 7-5 victory over Cupertino. The injury-plagued team rested starters once they had a solid lead. Earlier, the team suffered two 6-9 losses, one to Wilcox on Oct. 17 and the latter to Milpitas on Oct. 22. The team suffered a 13-12 loss to Lynbrook on Oct. 15. However, the team put up tough fights against Homestead and Santa Clara, the top teams in league, upsetting Santa Clara in 12-11 on Oct. 10 while suffering a tough 1-point deficit in their 8-7 loss to Homestead on Oct. 8.

“Right now I feel like we are still getting used to playing with each other, which is resulting in closely contested games,” Chadha said. “The real test is when league playoffs start, and I know that we are gonna be able to do well since we are building our chemistry day by day.”