Girls water polo team comes back against Dragons

The crowd cheers as the girls varsity water polo team gets another ball in the goal. The Trojans swim quickly as the last seconds of the game occur, blocking the Dragons from scoring. Castro Valley reigns victorious against long time rival Bishop O’Dowd. 

Though they were down in the first three quarters of the game, the Trojans won with an impressive 9-7 score, pulling through during the fourth quarter and overtime. The game took place Sept. 12, at Chabot College.

The junior varsity and varsity were extremely supportive of each other, cheering each other on from the bench, and the players believe that that was what pulled them to victory. 

“Today I think it was definitely the help from the encouragement of the bench and everyone yelling together during the game so we knew what to do next so it was an easy goal from there. I think this was the best they played so far. The energy and the willingness to win helped us be able to work together more as a team than individuals,” stated girls varsity team captain Alenea Loera. 

“I think we did really well even though we were down we were losing by two and that’s what got us to go into overtime and win. The team as a whole was really positive and encouraging whether they were playing or not and that’s what really won the game for us,” said Peyton Sklut. 

During the game, a few players particularly stood out and displayed their great skills and training. 

“Defender-wise, Adelaide Wilhelm’s blocks in the fourth quarter really helped us push through and focus on our offense,” said coach Bailey Barlow. “Corinne Arakawa really shut them down defensively as well; she had around eight steals. Her defensive awareness really helped block down Bishop and she managed to prevent the ball from going to where they wanted it a lot. Alenea Loera was a big offensive presence and really helped with assists. We shut them out in the fourth quarter. Great game showed our conditioning and our will to win.”

Of course, if you were at the game, you constantly hear players screaming, “Let’s go Stella,” and who is Stella, you may ask. Stella Chang was the only freshman last year on the varsity team. 

“I think we need to come into the game with our full force. We kinda warmed up during the first three quarters of the game and we just need to hit the opposing team with our full energy,” she said. 

So, this year, the girls water polo team is getting off to a great start, with a five win and three loss record.