Girls' water polo beats El Dorado, 6-3

On Feb. 20, girls' water polo defeated its first opponent in California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoffs — El Dorado — with a score of 6-3.Although Samo was down for the entire first quarter, the team kept its nerves to a minimum, according to player Leah Gutentag (’15)."The team kept fighting," Gutentag said. "We didn't let the pressure get to us and we played our game."Down with a score of 1-2 at the end of the first quarter, the Greenies knew they had to pick it up in order to continue on in CIF playoffs."I think we realized that the only thing we were seriously lacking was the energy and intensity," Daniella Melamed (’15) said. "Once we picked that up, we really picked up speed and they just couldn't catch us."Samo stepped up after the first half, after Mollie Wittles (’14) made shots at pivotal moments and brought up the team's spirit and drive."Mollie always gets the job done," Gutentag said. "She made two brilliant shots — one from super far out that skipped in. It was pretty cool to watch."Samo was up two by the end of the third quarter and ended with a score of 4-2. According to Gutentag, the team had ensured its win by that point."You never want to assume you're going to win, especially with a whole quarter left," Gutentag said. "But with the way we were playing and how we had just crushed their lead, it didn't seem like anything could stop us."The Greenies sailed through the fourth quarter, allowing only one more point for El Dorado. According to Melamed, the players did not let the lead and the pressure overpower them. The final score was 6-3."We just got ourselves in check and played to win," Melamed said. "We're really just happy to continue on in CIF [playoffs] and hope we can keep the intensity going."