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Water
Polo Dives Into Season Leaving Opponents in Their Wake
Spencer Green, Staff Writer
During the last day of the summer, most of the students at
this school were either trying to enjoy their last few hours of
freedom, or trying to finish whatever summer reading they had put
off until the end. The boys’ water polo team did neither, due to the
fact that they were busy playing against the Palos Verdes Peninsula
team. After a summer of grueling training, which included many
early morning practices and some afternoon workouts, the Varsity and
Junior Varsity teams were ready for their opponents from Peninsula
High School. In a scrimmage that took place September 5 at the El
Segundo Urho Saari Swim Stadium, (also known as the Plunge), the two
Eagles teams ended up with varied results. While Varsity won big,
the JV team lost big. Leading the Varsity as team captains are
seniors Alex Heck and John McKay, and the captain of
JV is sophomore Alexander Richardson.
Shortly following the home scrimmage
were the Ayala and San Marino Tournaments. During the first weekend
of school, the varsity team played in the Ayala tournament at Ayala
High School. Varsity won four out of their five games, but a loss to
La Salle High School prevented them from completely dominating in
the tournament. Before the loss, El Segundo was ranked number 3 in
CIF Division 6, with La Salle following at number 4. But because of
the defeat, El Segundo was dropped to 4 and La Salle went to 3.
Overall, the top El Segundo Varsity scorers for this tournament were
seniors Jeff Volosin and Heck, each racking up several goals
per game. Despite the loss, the Varsity Eagles were quite successful
in their tournament, and are bound to impress everyone this year.
During the same weekend, the JV team
was playing at the San Marino Tournament. Winning two games and
losing two as well, they did a respectable job at their first
tournament of the year. Beating Monrovia and San Marino and losing
to Arcadia and South Pasadena, the JV team was fairly successful at
their first tournament of the year. As top scorers for El Segundo
for this tournament, sophomore Nic Curcio and freshman
Beau Blacksten both helped to keep the score up throughout their
games. Also, freshman Maxwell Reynolds won all of his sprints
except for two, doing a good job of seizing the ball at the
beginning of each period. As the only goalie for his team,
Richardson did a great job of protecting the goal during the two-day
tournament. Upon being asked how the team did, junior Dylan Sharp
responded, “These kids have amazing heart and they gave it all they
had, but it’s still early in the season and they definitely have a
lot of potential…and kind eyes.”
The Monday after the tournaments, the
water polo team had a home game against Crespi. With a huge victory,
the Varsity squad beat Crespi 15-6. This makes their season record
as 5 victories and 1 loss, and ranked fourth in CIF. The Eagles
scorers for the Varsity game were junior Matt Pittluck with
one goal, Volosin with four goals, junior Woody Lindsey with
two goals, senior Josh Combs with five goals, and Heck with
three goals. The JV team also did well, beating their Crespi
opponents 8-4. Scoring for El Segundo were sophomores Dayne
Contarsy and Zack Reed with one goal each, Blacksten with
one goal, and Curcio with four goals to his credit. From the point
of Coach Fotis Davlantis he said, “I’m happy with the start of the
season, because they have been playing very well, and I can’t wait
to see how they will do throughout the season.”
From how they have been playing so
far, it looks like the Eagles will have a great season this year.
Show your support for the boy’s water polo team by going to the
games, and remember that all home games are free and al support is
greatly appreciated. Good luck Eagles and have a great season!
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