Diamond Bar High School’s girls water polo team has made history by not only qualifying for CIF for the first time, but advancing to the semifinals in only its third year. Defeating Valley View 13-7 at home on Saturday, the girls will be competing at Chaffey today.

“We’ve been working a lot harder than other teams in our Division 7,” junior captain Phoebe Tsui said. “Our coach has really pushed us because they want us to beat all our games and move into a higher division.”

The Lady Brahmas have improved significantly since last season. The team improved by 18 games overall, going 25-7. In league play, the girls went from placing last to third with a record of 4-4, a three game improvement.

The girl’s first CIF playoff game was a home game against Summit on Feb. 14. The girls dominated the game, pulling ahead 4-0 during the first half and finishing off 12-2 during the second half. The Lady Brahmas moved on to compete against Don Lugo in their second round of CIF; the team defeated the Conquistadors 13-2.

The match that earned them a spot in CIF was against Claremont, which they won 11-10. According to junior captain Monique Yim, the girls scrimmaged during their entire practice the day before as if they were in a real game. In addition, Tsui stated that head coach Alexander Matal’s pep talk after the first half of the game turned things around halftime.

“The first two quarters were pretty bad, we weren’t in sync,” Tsui said. “In the third quarter we scored five goals because our coach gave us a really scary talk.”

The day after their win, the girls went on a three-day trip to San Diego to participate in the San Diego open-tournament as well as bond with team members in the wake of their successful season.

They participated in five games, winning two and losing three. The exposure to unfamiliar teams allowed the girls to adjust and learn how to compete in different situations.

“We went into it saying we were going to use those games to clean up the things we had trouble with, so when we go in to CIF, we’re a little more solid,” Yim said.

One of the main practice strategies the captains credited for their success this season was focusing on the fundamental techniques. Throughout the season, the Lady Brahmas consistently practiced passing the ball and communicating with one another.

In addition, Yim stated that bonding with the girls over the years helped developed better teamwork and trust between the players during games.

“We’ve taken a step back and focused on more fundamental things to kind of clean that up rather than going than game strategies so we can have a solid offense,” Yim said.