Girls’ water polo predicts a difficult season in higher division

2016-2017 record: Overall 13-8, League 4-2

2016-2017 recap: The girls finished second in their league, losing 5-4 to Homestead in the El Camino League Championships.

Key Additions: Junior Ashley Feng, junior Elaine Sun, junior Phoebe Wang, senior Audrey Dang

Key Matchups: After losing a close game in the league championships, the girls are seeking redemption and hope to prove themselves by defeating Homestead this season. Los Gatos will also be a key matchup.

Star Players: Junior field player Madeline Stuart, junior field player Sarah Daoudi and senior goalie Aileen Zhang

Key Losses (graduated athletes): Sophie Sellers, Jessie Liu, Kailyn Koerber, and Kanika Vora

League: De Anza League

After a successful season in the El Camino League, the girls have moved up to the more challenging De Anza League. Although the girls ended last season with strong play, the team expects an uphill battle this season after the loss of seven seniors, leaving them with only 10 field players, compared to last year’s 14.

In addition to having few players, JV coach Katja DeRoos wasn’t able to return, a position the school hasn’t be able to fill yet. The decrease in number of mentors has greatly affected the girls’ practice conditions, forcing previous varsity coach Jerome Chung to train both the JV and varsity teams at the same time.

Chung has been working hard to compensate for the lack of a JV coach, creating strict schedules and detailed day by day practices for both teams. With constant training of a classic offensive umbrella play, drop defensive plays and six on five setup for both defense and offense, the drills have become almost instinctual.

“In terms of game experience, the team is a little young,” Chung said. “But they’re a very hard working group of kids.”

With the season beginning, the hard work has clearly begun to pay off. On Aug. 24, the girls played their first non-league game against Half Moon Bay, winning 6-2. Junior Madeline Stuart was the leading scorer, forcing four out of the six goals from around the pool.

“It was good to knock the rust off in our first game,” Chung said. “They played hard so I was very happy for both teams.”

He has confidence that the rest of the season’s games can go as smoothly as the one against Half Moon Bay.

“If we practice hard and give 100 percent, it will be a successful season,” Chung said.