by Abbi Berry

Web Editor

The girls water polo team has had a great season this year. JV girls went undefeated, winning 24 games and 3 tournaments. This is the second time JV has gone undefeated in the history of Los Gatos water polo. Greg Crites, the JV girls coach says, “I’m very proud of our team performance this year. It’s the second time ever that we’ve been undefeated, due in large part to our team’s ability to play as a group and help each other to improve throughout the season.” Natalya Temple, the JV captain, explains that “we’ve had a really great season thanks to the experience of our older players and talented freshmen.”

The varsity girls team lost only 2 of its 24 games. The girls won their first tournament at the Los Gatos First Contact. They lost their first two league games against Los Altos and Gunn but continued to dominate in the Bulldog Invitational at Sobrato and the Tessa Joy Invitational. The team took a lot of pride in winning the first ever Tessa Joy Invite, which was established in order to honor its fallen player.

Varsity girls celebrate after winning the first Tessa Joy Invite.

Establishing a solid team camaraderie was difficult due to differences in age, since this year there were two freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors, and seniors on the team. However, both senior captain Crystal Huang and head coach Don Appleton agree the team has come a long way and has a lot of potential in leagues and CCS in the coming weeks. Huang explains, “Our team dynamic has been so different compared to the past years, but ultimately we’re all on the same page. This is one of the strongest teams I’ve ever played on. I’m excited to bring home a championship title.” Coach Appleton agrees, “I think the team has come a long way from the beginning we had such a mixed group of young talent and older kids who have been with the program for a while. We’re starting to get that competitive edge that we really needed. And now that everyone has been playing together for a while things are really starting to come together and the girls are learning how to rely on each other and play really well together. I don’t have any doubts that we’re going to come out strong in the tournament.” 

Varsity Captain Tony Casaccia gets up to shoot.

The boys water polo team has persevered through its first season in the top league. They recently competed in the the St. Francis and Carmel tournaments and hope to go to league finals this week. Junior captain Tony Casaccia recaps the season by saying, “We’ve been playing more as a unit with each week. We don’t know for sure if we’ve made it to CCS, but this week [at leagues] should decide it.” Senior captain Keith Kulick predicts, “we will most likely finish third in the league.” Both captains agree that their team is much stronger than previous years, and hope to make it through a couple rounds of CCS. Wish your boys luck as they fight for a place in the upcoming CCS tournament.