Stepping up in the new year
GIRLS WATERPOLO The Lady Brahmas show their potential for this season as they conquered two tournaments.
Junior Ashley Yoo attempts to score in a match against Claremont.
January 26, 2017
Having started the season with two tournament victories, the Diamond Bar High School girls water polo team has already shown much improvement from previous years. With a current league record of 2-2, the team is better prepared this year and more players have been stepping up.
The team started off league with two wins against Glendora and Ayala. The Lady Brahmas and the Glendora Tartans were tied until sophomore Kristina Mariani scored the winning goal in the last two minutes for a 8-7 Brahma victory. Junior captain Phoebe Tsui led the team with four goals.
In their second match against the Ayala Bulldogs, the girls won against the team they struggled with last year, 11-8.
“[This year], our fundamental skills are better and we’re communicating more,” Tsui said. “We’ve been playing long with each other now so we know how each player works and their habits.”
In the first week of January, the Lady Brahmas participated in the sixth annual Lady Nobles varsity tournament, winning all five tournament games and defeating the No. 1 ranked team in the division, Santa Fe, 11-6.
In addition, the Lady Brahmas won five tournament games in the third annual Lady Brahmas Winter Classic. They defeated Chaffey High School 16-7, the No. 2 ranked team in their division.
“The coaches are pretty strict and we’re focusing on winning more games than just trying out a sport,” Tsui said.
Inspired by the success of the boys water polo team, the Lady Brahmas have been practicing especially hard to reach expectations.
“It is difficult to say if the girls will have the same type of success as the boys as they compete in different divisions and the girls’ game is different than the boys,” head coach Alexander Matal said via email.
Although the girls started off the season with two consecutive wins, the victories were followed by two losses against Claremont and Bonita.
“The coaching staff is focused on strengthening and improving our fundamental skills of passing and shooting. We are also focused on improving our body positioning and awareness on the defensive end,” Matal said.
