Girls’ water polo loses at CCS quarterfinals

The girls’ water polo team made quite a splash in CCS this year after two wins against Stevenson and St. Ignatius, on Nov. 11 and Nov. 13, respectively. The team won 7-4 against Stevenson and 5-3 against St. Ignatius in home games, and advanced to the CCS quarterfinals for the second time since 2006, only to be crushed by a strong Sacred Heart Preparatory with a 16-4 loss in an away game.

Seniors Amanda Moriarty and Madison Gress said that it was the team’s “solid defense” that led to its two CSS wins.

Moriarty said  the team started out slowly on offense during the Stevenson game, but eventually picked up momentum as the game progressed because they were “able to identify who [Stevenson’s] best players were so that [they] could shut them down on offense.”

Defense also played a large part in its win against St. Ignatius. The Falcons had lost 4-2 to St. Ignatius in a home game earlier in the season.

Although the team had troubling scoring early in the game, according to Gress, the Falcons were in the lead at the end of the first quarter.

“[That] pumped up the team right away,” Gress said. “Saint Ignatius scored to take the lead in the middle of the game, and we all got a little flustered, but instead of getting down on ourselves like we would have done earlier in the season, we let it motivate us to come back right away.”

Gress said that the team used to have a slow offense, but recently had the opposite problem with too many people driving at once.

The team resolved this by working on its six-on-five offense during practices, which Gress hoped would help them “capitalize on [their] scoring opportunities.”

Coach Nick Berg helped the team to do this by focusing  on improving the team’s defense before CCS.

“Last year, we focused a lot on offense, and this year [Berg] has taught us a lot of defense, so we now we are strong in both areas,” Moriarty said. “[Berg] has definitely helped us throughout the season, [which] obviously shows since we made CCS.”

With Berg’s help, the team was able to overcome many obstacles, including the absence of players such as senior Mackenzie Rosenthal, who plays hole-D, and junior Alexa Frieberg, who plays set, due to illnesses. Sophomore Sophia Sellers and junior Haley Rositano filled in and kept the Falcons competitive.

“It's been a really long season, so the team is pretty run down and a lot of us are sick, but we've all been able to power through it for a [relatively] strong finish to the season,” Gress said. “What's helped us the most is focusing on going out there on a team and enjoying ourselves.”

With the season — and her high school water polo career — coming to a close,  Gress said her motivation was high.

“Knowing… these CCS games could be my last high school water polo games has motivated me to play my heart out because it might be the last chance we get,” Gress said.