Girls Varsity Water Polo

On Wednesday evening, Nov. 17, the Dana Hills girls varsity water polo team played the Mission Viejo girls varsity team in their first game of the season, winning 16-5. Coach Carrie Pierce said that “We have a strong core group that returned from last year and added some strong players from last year’s JV” and that she is “really excited to see them continue to come together as a team”.

Thanks to junior Emma McCulloch, Dana won every sprint to the ball at the beginning of each quarter. Junior Sadie Riester had an amazing game with 5 goals and 3 assists. Kate McCulloch also played well, drawing 2 kickouts and stealing the ball 4 times. Goalies Madison McGowan and Kylie Frangipane, both seniors, only let in 5 goals in all 4 quarters.

The team played very unselfishly, with 10 of their 16 goals coming from assists rather than countering the other team. Dana played with an aggressive offense, drawing 4 kickouts and stealing the ball 8 times. The team is especially effective when counter-attacking, and deadly because of their team cohesiveness. According to Coach Pierce, the team needs to “continue to develop our shot making from different situations in the pool and our drive and counter defense”.

Team Captains Emma McCulloch, Kate McCulloch, and Sadie Riester have bright hopes for the team. Sadie is “feeling confident after today’s game against Mission and excited to grow as a team this season”. Emma McCulloch thinks that their biggest strength is the “team’s unity and togetherness which ultimately helps us thrive in game time scenarios”. The season looks bright for girls water polo, and the team looks forward to playing it after covid shut it down last year.