A WATER MARK IN WATER POLO HISTORY

The varsity boys’ water polo team won first place at the Western Tournament, which took place on Sept. 14 at Kennedy High School and Sept. 15 at Garden Grove High School. This was the first time that the team has participated in the tournament, beating Segerstrom High School, Trabuco Hills High School, Cleveland High School and Kennedy High School, and made their way to the top. Peninsula won the first three rounds; however, the team faced an uphill battle as they trailed Kennedy High School by a few points in the fourth quarter of the final game of the tournament. Led by seniors and varsity co-captains Luke Martin and Cole Allyn, the nine-man team rallied back and emerged victorious. Allyn believes that the team’s mentality was the key to their success.

“What led us to victory was that we played as a team,” Allyn said. “We really played our hearts out and left it all in the pool.”

Water polo coach Bryan Weaver is also proud of the team for their performance, especially with the pressure they faced in the last match of the tournament.

“It was nice that we overcame adversity in the final match,” Weaver said. “Our guys stayed calm and rose to the occasion.”

Martin believes the team’s experience is one of the reasons why they were able to fight back and perform well. Since most of the boys have been part of the varsity team since their freshman or sophomore year, they have had years of experience playing together as teammates. According to Martin, this experience lessened their nervousness during the tournament and allowed the boys to play to their full potential. Allyn and Martin have also worked together to come up with many new offensive strategies this year, and these plays have contributed to their success since the beginning of the season. The team members feel that they are performing much better this season compared to previous years, and they hope to carry the momentum from this most recent win into CIF play at the end of the season.

Weaver believes that adding more competitions such as the Western Tournament to their team’s schedule has helped them improve. Water polo tournaments expose the players to more teams in the area, which helps them practice their strategies in a competitive environment. When facing a new team, the boys have to adapt to new styles of play and create strategies to help them win in different scenarios. This practice helps the boys improve, and Weaver believes the team’s tournament performance is a good indicator of what they need to focus on during practice. Based on Weaver’s observations, the team will incorporate more swimming sets during practice to ensure that they have the stamina necessary for long games in the postseason.

“We learn some of our weaknesses and what we need to work on by playing other teams,” Weaver said. “That gives me a direction of what to practice.”

Despite being in a stressful position in the final game, the team was victorious in the end and was proud of their performance. Furthermore, the first place victory at the Western Tournament has changed the team’s expectations for the rest of the season.

“Winning the Western Tournament really boosted the confidence of our underclassmen and led us to believe we could beat any team out there,” senior Avion Akhavan said. “The freshmen gained experience and since Western, we have continued to play well.”

Following the victory, the team has kept up the momentum, placing fifth in the Diamond Bar Tournament and fourth in the Ocean View Tournament. They also won in small private games against Chadwick School, El Segundo High School and Montebello High School.