After the girl’s water polo’s 14-12 overall record last season, the team has continued their winning record this season (11-10 overall, 5-7 Peninsula Bay League) with new coach Kielan Crow.
This season, sophomore Madelyn Dobbs leads the team with 29 goals and 58 steals. Goalkeeper and captain Kristina Bruce has also been successful, racking up 249 saves. Bruce also leads the team with 17 assists, closely followed by sophomore Ruby Vogel’s 16 assists. Fellow senior captain and midfielder Aryanna Zahabi is averaging more than one goal per game and has gotten 39 steals this season.
In the Dons’ previous 10-3 loss to Castilleja (15-8 overall, 10-0 PBL), Dobbs scored all three goals and Bruce led the team with seven steals and had one assist.
On Oct. 23, the Dons played Menlo-Atherton in their Senior Night game at home. The game did not go the Dons’ way as they lost 9-2.
Efforts by Bruce headlined the game as there were constant shots on goal by the Bears throughout the match. Bruce recorded 11 saves out of 20 shots on goal.
“I was just trying to focus on the game,” Bruce said. “My motivation was we wanted to win. It was our senior night and I needed to keep that mentality the whole time.”
Zahabi led the team at the half with three shots on goal, but was not able to capitalize on her chances. The Dons went down 6-0 at halftime despite having the Bears’ goalkeeper under duress.
“I just make sure that I keep a high intensity, and that I am aware of what is going on in the pool so I can always be one step ahead and make sure to keep an eye out for my teammates,” Zahabi said.
Crow made adjustments during the four minute halftime period.
“I told them to pick up the intensity. We start out and the other teams are physical,” Crow said. “We can play with physicality, but it takes a mental change so we just need to make sure that they brought their mentality and intensity. And they did that in the second half.”
The second half was more successful for the Dons. Vogel capitalized on a quarter of her shots, scoring two goals. Bruce played even better in the second half as she only allowed three goals.
Of the 12 players on the varsity squad, only four are graduating seniors. With five sophomores, three juniors and a first year head coach, this young team is just beginning to test their limits in the league.
“We have a lot of strong sophomores so I think they can carry us to CCS in their senior or even next year because they have been training with us since last year,” Zahabi said. “They have two more years so they can definitely get further than we were.”
Crow echoed Zahabi’s point and is looking forward to building on his first season as the coach.
“The biggest thing I want to make sure they understand is that they need to be good teammates,” Crow said. “We had a couple challenges as the season progressed but they definitely gelled together as the season progressed.”
The Dons did not qualify for playoffs this season but will look to improve next year with a young core and an overall improved program.
