Girls Waterpolo Gears Up for Playoffs

It’s an exciting time for Santa Barbara High School (SBHS) Girls Waterpolo as they gear up to compete as the number one seed in Division Two California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoffs. Having already conquered round one on Feb. 5 against Poly, the girls are eager to advance even further. “If we just stick to a plan and do the things that we know how to do, I think we should probably be in that final match, and anything could happen in a championship game,” said sophomore captain Jules Horton. This mentality is exactly what got the girls to this point as they finished out the regular season with a 22-8 record. Overall, they enjoyed a very successful season, with Head Coach Walsh saying, “We got third place in the channel league tournament and we beat a couple teams, Ventura and Buena, who we haven’t beat in a few years so those were good league wins, and we were in the top twenty five of Southern California for most of the season.” 

However, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the Dons as they have faced their fair share of challenges, with the main issue being the small size of the team. “We only have nine people and there’s seven in the water at a time so we had to condition a lot and no one could get hurt so we had to prioritize recovery… we’ve all had to learn to do things individually to help each other,” explained Horton. Coach Walsh agreed, saying that, “We had a really small team so if anyone had got injured or hurt it would have been really tough so we were fortunate to avoid that.” When asked what the team’s biggest challenge was this year, Walsh quipped, “Probably having me as their coach, I feel really bad for them, but I thought they persevered and dealt with me and my horrible jokes and dad sense of humor.” 

As the playoffs continue, the team is confident in their game going forward. “We’re in division two and we’re the number one seed so we have a chance against anybody…we feel good about our chances,” Walsh said of the girls. Horton agreed, saying that their victory in round one helped them gain confidence. “I think it was one of the better defensive games that we’ve had, and we kept them to zero goals in the first half, which was really good for us because that’s something that we’ve been struggling with,” explained Horton. “I think we outswam them and we were more conditioned, and it helped us in the long run, so I think if we just continue what we’ve been doing and incorporating more of the defensive things that we’ve learned into our future games, it’s going to go a lot better for us further through CIF.” Clearly, this strategy is a success as the girls defeated Edison in round two of the playoffs on Feb. 10, advancing them to the quarter finals where they faced Temple City on Feb. 13. In a tight 13-12 victory, the squad bested the Rams, leading them to the semi-finals where they will go up against Murrieta Valley High School on Feb. 17.