Girls' water polo secures a spot in CIF

Chase WohrleStaff WriterEnding their regular season at 13-12, and going 7-3 in the Ocean League, girls’ water polo will move forward into the second round of the CIF playoffs after their win against Hemet.Before the final decision, the thought of not continuing the season was considered highly unlikely. With a league record of .700, the team’s improvements became apparent during league play, which was beneficial to them. However, coach Matt Flanders was assured nothing was certain.“[If we get in, we’ll] do the best we can, win,” Flanders said. “[If not], then we don’t win.”With the majority of their wins occurring in the second half of the season, the team benefited from the wins against league teams such as Marlborough, winning both games back to back at 22-1 and 15-2.Despite this, the team experienced two of their three league losses in the last two games of their season against Beverly Hills (11-12) and Culver City (5-6). Earlier during league play, the team had won over both of their final teams, beating Beverly at 6-3 and Culver at 8-3.The same pattern of winning a game and losing a game can be applied to Torrance (6-3 than 5-7) and El Segundo (5-7 than 6-4). With this record, they finish their regular season at the third best in the Ocean league.“We thought they were easy teams, so we weren’t trying our best,” junior Morgan Rodriguez said. “We lost our fundamentals, but we got back into it.”On Tuesday, the girls traveled to face Hemet, of the Mountain Pass league. They emerged from the pool victorious with nine points to Hemet’s two points. Their next challenge comes today against Western. First in the Empire league, Western received a bye their first round.In regards to Western, Flanders rests assured.“I think they’re ready to go,” Flanders said.cwohrle@thesamohi.com