With a total of five games over a period of three days, the women’s water polo team took home mixed results.
“We were tired by the end, and it’s really hard to play when you can barely move your arm to throw a ball,” coach Corey Stanbury said.
The women played their first game of the week against L.A. Trade Tech on Oct. 7.
The team took home a 21-3 win.
It was a game in which players were able to build their scoring confidence.
“Every player played had the opportunity to score more than one goal during the game,” Stanbury said.
The team also showed a strong defense with a total of 20 steals against L.A. Trade Tech.
Next up was a two-day tournament in Ventura that put the women’s stamina to the test.
“The first day we played Palomar and Santa Monica, which was a hard day,” Stanbury said.
The women lost to Palomar 11-5, and also to Santa Monica 7-4.
“We played hard (during the first game), but we hit the bar of the goal more often than I would like,” Stanbury said.
The second game was a challenge, as Santa Monica’s team is among the top 10 in the state conference rankings. Still, the score was close.
“In the end we lost but we showed great defense and it was close, which was good in itself,” Stanbury said.
Contributing to the defense was Alexandra Stumpf, goalkeeper, who made seven saves against Santa Monica.
The second day of the tournament began against San Joaquin Delta College.
The exhaustion of so many games in a short period of time was catching up with the women. It showed in an 8-6 loss.
The final game was against Los Angeles Valley, during which the Warriors fared better.
They ended the day with a 9-6 win.
“We did a good job as opposed to other tournaments,” Erica Shaw, team captain, said.
Shaw was impressed with the close scores against such strong competition.
Stumpf was also impressed with how the games went, despite the losses.
“We worked really well together,” Stumpf said.
One standout Shaw noted was Katelynn Sloss.
Sloss had five goals and almost double that in saves during the two-day tournament.
“Overall we are getting better and working better as team,” Shaw said.