Water Polo Splashes into League
The water polo team has had an eventful season so far.
Most recently on Tuesday, Sept. 24, Dana won their second league game against Tesoro by a score of 11-8.
The previous week on Tuesday, Sept. 17, they played their first league game against their rivals, San Clemente. Although the game ended with a narrow loss of 9-11, senior Charlie Gravitt commented, “We battled back hard and made a good game out of it. It was really well fought.”
Their most recent non-league game was against Santa Margarita on Thursday, Sept. 12. While the game ended in a 6-10 loss, it was a close game that was likely impacted by the team’s loss of starter Brody Sullivan. The junior player was suspended from the game after an altercation during the team’s previous outing, the Santa Barbara tournament.
The Santa Barbara tournament took place on the weekend of Sept. 5-7, and overall, was a great experience for the team. Senior Aiden Mathes stated, “We had some hard fought losses and some well earned victories, but what I think we gained the most out of the trip was a stronger connection as a team and a greater respect for each other.” During the tournament, the Dolphins played a series of five games and were able to defeat Mira Costa, the team responsible for ending Dana’s CIF run last year. In the end, the team finished the tournament with three wins and two losses.
Directly before the tournament, the boys played Foothill on Wednesday, Sept. 4. Gravitt noted, “In the middle two quarters, we fought hard and brought their lead down to one. Unfortunately, the comeback took a lot out of us, and we lost momentum.” The game ended with a score of 5-10.
The boys played their first games of the season against Righetti and Woodbridge. Their first game on Wednesday, Aug. 28 against Woodbridge ended in a loss. However, they rebounded and took a 14-10 win three days later against Righetti.
League has only just begun for our Dolphins, and it’s sure to be an interesting season. For the upcoming games, the team will continue to train hard and hone their skills. Captain Adler Zachary elaborated, “We’re working on improving and learning from every game. We hope to be competitive in league and make a deep run in CIF.”
