Girls’ water polo looks to bounce back in time for league

By Olivia Nouriani

Staff Writer

Girls’ water polo is preparing for their rapidly approaching league season, hoping to recover from their recent abysmal preseason play. League season begins on Tuesday, January 13, when the Tigers host the Temple City Rams. The squad also has one more non-conference game at Crescenta Valley on Thursday, January 8. The team is looking to rebound just in time for the beginning of league.

“We feel prepared for league,” sophomore Brittany Jarjour said. “We have been working hard in preseason since September and are fairly confident.”

The Tigers’ record fell to 1-2 after a loss to the Mayfield Cubs before a 3-week Winter hiatus. The team looks forward to returning to the pool on January 5, when practice starts back up again, in an effort to regain control of their non-conference record and become better equipped for league.

With new head coach Meaghan Paschall leading the squad, the Tigers’ pre-season has been primarily about building a team strategy and adjusting to the young coach’s style of play.

“I have a totally different approach to polo than most people.” Pascall said, “They’re used to older male coaches. I just finished playing, and am a little more fresh. I know how girls are sneaky in water.”

Communication has been a focus of the team’s Fall training, and they feel it has improved vastly in the time they’ve been working together.

“Communication isn’t something we were strong at in the beginning of training,” sophomore Skyler Ramirez said. “But our win over El Rancho was largely thanks to our consistent communication throughout the game.”

The team has fallen behind both offensively and defensively in the past, but believes that their non-conference season has tuned their skills and that, with the guidance of Paschall, they will be successful in league.

“Coach Meaghan has prepared us mentally and physically throughout all of our practices,” Jarjour said. “She always supports and pushes us in working hard and reaching new goals we never thought we could achieve.”

The squad is confident about their return to preseason play on Monday, and looks ahead to success in league.

“All of us supporting eachother throughout practices and games has definitely built us all up as a team and as individuals,” Jarjour said. “We’ve been working hard everyday and even through break. We feel prepared, and are working to do our best and hoping for the best.”