Girls’ Water Polo Primed for Stellar Season With New Talent
The 2016 girls’ water polo season is underway, and the team looks very likely to make a playoff run. Following last year’s 8-6 season record losses, the girls are determined to win more games this year.
Tryouts for the water polo team were held right before spring break. A record number of girls tried out for the team, and there was even the possibility of creating a secondary, JV team for the first time. However, this did not come to fruition, and there will only be a varsity team this year. As a result, the tryouts were very competitive because there were only a handful of roster spots for a large amount of prospective Players. In the end, only 17 girls were chosen by the coaches to join the team.
With a combination of experienced veteran players and fresh new talent, the team has high hopes. Lower Maddie Shapiro described the group of girls on this year’s team. “We have a really diverse team in the way that we have girls in every grade that can play pretty well,” she said. “That’s something that’s pretty rare considering most of the girls we get in have never played.” There are six new girls on the team, but some of them have played water polo before coming to Exeter.
The team captains are seniors Abby Ambrosia and Madison Hillyard, who have both been on the team since they were preps. With four years of experience under their belts, they have helped the newcomers transition into the sport. Last year’s third-leading goal scorer, upper Emily LaRovere, praised her captains. “They both love the sport and are great leaders,” she said. One of the ways the captains help lead the team is by fostering a relaxed environment at practices. Shapiro explained, “We get down to business when need to, but we’re always cracking jokes and laughing with each other and our coaches.”
“Practices are really hard, especially the swim sets we do for conditioning.”
Practices are not all fun and jokes, as the team has only two weeks to prepare for their first game. Senior Moonlan Zhang explained the intensity of the team’s practices so far. “Practices are really hard, especially the swim sets we do for conditioning,” she said.
Having the endurance to play all four quarters is essential, and the team hopes to be well-conditioned entering their first game. Although the majority of the team swam last term on the girls’ swim team, many feel that the skills used while playing water polo are very different. The tiring practices do not discourage the girls, as they know they will pay off in the future.
The majority of the games that the girls will play in this year are away, but this Saturday, they will host Deerfield Academy in their first game. In the past few years, the games against Deerfield have always been close, but Big Red usually manages to grind out the win. In this last week of training, the team will start practicing more game simulations while still maintaining their conditioning. The whole team is excited to start this season and ready to make a run for the championship.