Weather, sickness, and a lack of some key players were all factors faced by the EC women’s water polo team at the Fullerton tournament on Sept. 25-26.
“We played alright but we’re mostly all tired” Amanda Sloss, 20, said. The women had already faced a game against Cerritos earlier in the week and having three game days in one week is sure to drain any player.
“Our captain Erica (Shaw) was sick too so it just all added up” Sloss said.
Through sickness Shaw still managed to score two goals in the game against Fullerton and three goals against Saddleback, with both games taking place Friday.
“We lost both games the first day” Sloss said.
Besides a lack of physical energy and illness the heat and weather difference made an impact on the team.
“It was really hot and we typically aren’t used to playing in that kind of weather” Tara Yeno, 20, said.
Though the scores were dim on Friday, with a loss of 5-15 against Fullerton and 5-11 against Saddleback, the team was optimistic about the next day.
“These teams are beatable” Sloss said.
Saturday went somewhat better for the women with a 15-8 win against Rio Hondo.
“We came together as a team and worked hard” Yeno said about the win of the day.
The game against Grossmont didn’t go as well with both a 5-10 loss for EC as well as an injury for Amanda Sloss.
“I got elbowed in the nose during the Grossmont game” Sloss said, which led to it breaking.
Even though the tournament didn’t go ideally their was still plenty of praise for those who did well.
“Alex (Stumf) did really well during the game against Rio (Hondo)” Sloss said, with Stumpf having nine saves as goalkeeper.
Some players stood out for Asst. Coach Monica Lizarraga-Papke such as Margaret Drischler who had an “amazing Saturday” Lizarraga-Papke said. Drischler scored six goals against Rio Hondo and another against Grossmont.
“Katelynn (Sloss) and Chloe (Rodriquez) were both really strong on defense” Lizarraga-Papke said in regards to Saturday.
This showed with both women having three steals each on Saturday. Always looking to the future Lizarraga-Papke saw this tournament as a chance for growth and improvement for the team.
“The whole team had a chance to play and they learned so they can have a bigger role in the next game” Lizarraga-Papke said.
Lizarraga-Papke also sees toughness in the team and the ability to work together and help each other out, which was shown with a large number of assists on Saturday.
The women played again on Sept. 30 against Mt. San Antonio College and suffered a 2-10 defeat. Improvement is occurring though with players Rodriguez and (Katelynn) Sloss each having a respectable five steals against their opponents. Also goalkeeper Stumpf is proving time and again to be a valuable addition to the team in a position that Stanbury thought would be a challenge to fill this season.
The women’s team has a week off and will not play again until an away conference game against L.A. Trade Tech on Oct. 7 at 3p.m.