Girls' Water Polo Suffers Up-and-Down Season

After graduating some of their top ‘12 athletes, girls’ water polo spent this year rebuilding and training their new, incoming athletes.A tough preseason training regimen for Exeter pref- aced a dif cult rst match against Deer eld Academy, known as one of the best water polo teams in New England. Big Red lost by a score of 5-10 to the team that would become the rst seed at the end of the season’s Liquid Four Tournament.Although they were unable to start off the season with a win, the girls did not let this deter them from making progress and get tter both in and out of the pool. Espe- cially with the injuries of senior co-captain Mariah Mas- trodimos and upper Diane Lee, two of the team’s starters, the rest of the team had to learn to step up.Their hard work did pay off, as Exeter won back- to-back games against Loomis Chaffee and Williston Northampton just a week later. Within an hour of getting out of the rst game, the girls had to get back in the pool for their second game, and this double victory demonstrated the focus on athleticism and tness that the girls had been training with.In the next week, unfortunately, Big Red fell into a bit of a slump, unable to carry the momentum from their victories. The girls had to rst let up their winning atmo- sphere with a game against Andover, in which they lost 7-15. A double meet with Hopkins and Suf eld looked like it was heading in a similar direction when the team lost 7-9 to Hopkins, but towards the end of the meet, Exeter rebounded nicely and secured a tight 11-10 victory against Suf eld.The team continued to play well, but their performance was rocky in some aspects. A week after the Hopkins/ Suf eld matches, Exeter faced another double meet, this time against Choate and Williston Northampton. The girls were able to crush Choate 7-2, but against Williston Northampton, who they had defeated earlier in the year, they struggled, taking a 5-9 loss.With three remaining games in the season before the Liquid Four Tournament, water polo’s version of a “Final Four” tournament, Exeter had to win two of the three if they wanted to qualify for the tournament as the fourth seed.The rst deciding game was against rival Andover, to which the team had already lost once. Although Exeter

Ida Pilaye/The Exonianheld as much as a four-goal advantage in the match, An- dover came back in the fourth quarter to tie the game, and eventually steal the win in triple-overtime.Lower Janet Chen said that rather than being a put- down, the game against Andover had a positive in uence on the team. “While we were disappointed with the out- come, the game showed us that we had the skill and drive to compete with the other teams,” she said. “For the rest of the week, we kept the score of the Andover game on the scoreboard and used it as motivation during practice.”With ramped-us practice sessions and a sense of mo- tivation like none other, Big Red pushed itself in the last double-meet against Choate and Suf eld. In an exciting turn of events, Exeter clinched the two wins they needed to make the Liquid Four Tournament, with scores of 5-1 and 9-6, respectively.“It was a rocky season, to say the least,” Lee said. “We came close to not being able to go to the Final Four. Towards the end of the season, our team came together and pulled through. We de nitely became a more cohesive unit.”This year’s Liquid Four Tournament for girls’ water polo was held at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The rst seed in the tournament was Deer eld, followed by Andover, Hopkins, and Exeter.The rst team that Exeter faced was #1 Deer eld. Although the girls went into the game prepared and ready to face their toughest opponent, Deer eld’s strength in the pool proved to be too much, resulting in a 1-7 game.While it is easy for a team to get discouraged by a loss at the beginning of a tournament, Exeter did not let the loss against Deer eld negatively in uence what they had been building up since the beginning of the season. When

things mattered the most, in the 3rd place game against Hopkins, everyone on the team focused and claimed the victory with a 5-2 win.“Our rst loss was tough. We couldn't get anything goingoffensively.Ourdefensewasterri cthough.Weonly allowed one goal in the second half,” head coach Andrew McTammany said. “It was good to beat Hopkins in the 3rd place game. No one wanted to lose that game and the team played really well in the second half.”The girls were happy with how the season turned out. “The team improved on general knowledge of water polo, passing accuracy, and ball awareness this season,” senior co-captain Catharine Shipps said. “The team played really well this season. We were plagued by injuries and a few concussions but despite all that we pulled through in the end to place third in Final Four.”Mastrodimos agreed. “A lot of the team came into the season with little or no water polo experience, so it was great seeing everyone learn and improve over the season. Everyone nished the season with a good understanding of the game.”McTammany applauded the girls for their dedication to the sport. “The season was characterized by constant improvement. It's a testament to the dedication and work ethic. The girls came to the pool each day ready to learn and practice hard. Overall, I was pleased with the season,” he said.Many of the team members held high praises for both the season’s MVP, Shipps and the new coach, McTam- many, who replaced previous coach Melissa Paci c while she went on maternity leave for a majority of the season.“Shipps is an incredible role model and an incredible player, and being co-captains with her was a great experi- ence. She worked hard every day in practice, and everyone on the team looked up to her,” Mastrodimos said. “Coach McTammany is a very experienced water polo coach and player, and he taught us so much. He is an inspiring gure and a great motivator.”Lower Michelle Ysrael agreed. “Shipps played every minute of every game underwater, getting the ball on rare occasions, but still gave her all in every game,” she said. “Coach McTammany was awesome. Sometimes he put us through hell with eggbeater set punishments and sprints, but he was a great coach. He was very patient and encour- aging, making us want to work harder.”Next year’s captain-elects are Lee, Corinne Noonan ‘14 and Hope Logan ‘14. This set of new leadership will aim to continue the upward trajectory that the girls’ water polo team began this season.