Girls’ Water Polo Wins First Game

This Saturday, Exeter’s girls’ water polo team made the long trip down to Connecticut to face off against Deerfield Academy’s squad. The competition was tough and the game was grueling, but in typical Exeter fashion, the athletes worked hard and ground it out, leaving the pool deck with a 12-7 victory under their belts. This is a strong start for the girls’ season, and it bodes well for the team going into their next few games.

This victory is especially impressive considering that the girls are still in the beginning portion of their season, and have had only limited time to mesh together, create chemistry and practice their skills. “Going into the game we'd had less than a full week of practice,” captain and senior Janet Chen said. “Most of us were coming out of swim season, which takes a completely different mindset than polo.”

“It took a while to remember how to set up and how to move, so the first quarter was a little messy, but by the second quarter we all seemed to be back in control.”

“We only had four days of practice before the game, and we only worked on the basic ‘how to’s for throwing and passing,” senior Michelle Ysrael said.

Chen also expressed her happiness with how well the team performed with such little training time. “We had great ball movement and defense, which ultimately allowed us to pull ahead of Deerfield in the second half.”

“We were a little rusty at first, but by the end of the game, we were playing really well together,” Ysrael added.

While the second half of play was great, the team had a bit of trouble during the first half in the pool. “It took a while to remember how to set up and how to move, so the first quarter was a little messy, but by the second quarter we all seemed to be back in control,” Ysrael said.

The girls were especially happy to capture this victory, as Deerfield’s squad is notoriously talented.

“Deerfield has always had a strong water polo program, so we weren’t sure what to expect of the other team going in. We just wanted to do the best we could and use this first game to figure out our strengths and what we can work on,” Chen said.

Ysrael added, “A couple years ago [Deerfield was] one of the strongest teams in the league, but after losing a couple key players there weren’t many strong players left to hold up the rest of the team. After we were warmed up, our defense was able to hold down their shots and work on our own counter attacks and offensive set up.”

A few players managed to shine among the rest this weekend, among them senior Michelle Ysrael and upper and goalie Madison Hillyard. Hillyard had an extraordinary game, with a number of stellar saves. Ysrael also helped the team out with some key passes that lead to more points on the board.

After this first victory, the team has high hopes for the rest of the season. With proper training and lots of hard work, the girls could excel to great heights this spring.

“We have great team chemistry and everyone on the team works so hard and is so supportive of one another, especially through the tough conditioning sets,” Ysrael said. “Our new players have picked up the game so quickly. They have good player instincts and I’m so excited to see them improve through the season.

Chen echoed Ysrael’s sentiments. “We have a great group of dedicated athletes and I’m excited to see how the rest of the season goes.”