On Jan. 17, Bonita Vista High (BVH) girl’s varsity water polo team faced off against Otay Ranch High School (ORHS) at Southwestern College, claiming victory with an oppressive score of 22-6.
The game opens up both teams scoring a point, setting the score at 1-1. After several back and forth plays, ORHS lobs the ball past sophomore and goalie Mishka Garcia, setting the score at 1-2. BVH responds with a bullet thrown by senior captain Aparri Tarpley (5), equalizing the score at 2-2. However, as tension sets in and the clock ticks down, junior Olivia Gutierrez (2) receives two ejections, placing her one ejection away from being prohibited from playing the rest of the game. Tarpley switches into Gutierrez’ current position as guard, a primarily defensive position. With the shifted positions, Gutierrez rushes the cage and racks up the score in favor of BVH, ending with a score of 7-2. Garcia blocked several incoming shots from ORHS and communicated with her team, allowing BVH to take the lead.
“Since I’m in the goal, I have a full view of the field. If my teammates are going off, I’ll say, ‘Hey, you need to be on this person’ or ‘You need to swim this way,’ I’ll help them and see what they need to do,” Garcia said.
Quarter two’s first point is scored by senior Sarah Hardin (3) with an absolute rocket thrown from mid-field, setting the second quarter’s initial score at 8-2. BVH then scores consecutively for the next 3 points, only interrupted by a response from ORHS, placing the score at 11-3 halfway through the second quarter. After continuous passing back and forth, Hardin blasts down the pool and hurls the ball in to reward BVH with another point. Senior captain Bella Kovar scores the last point of the quarter, allowing BVH to end the quarter with a score of 14-3.
The first half of the game was dominated by BVH’s offense and strong defense, enabling them to maintain their lead while simultaneously preventing ORHS from scoring. Hardin elaborates on their evident strength in the first half of the game.
“We performed the best in the second quarter. We ran up the score a lot and had a bunch of our best shots. In the second quarter, we did everything right and executed everything correctly,” Hardin said.
The third quarter finds BVH continuing to maintain their lead, with Kovar (6) scoring two consecutive goals, followed by an additional two goals scored by Gutierrez. These four goals place BVH at a 14 point advantage after ORHS scores a goal. Garcia explains a primary reason that BVH was able to control the game was due to their close bonds and chemistry as a team.
“I feel like everyone has gotten close. Getting to know everyone, and having that bond helps [us] to be more comfortable while [we’re] in the water. I know these people have my back, I know they know how to play and they’ll help me, so it’s nice having friends on the team,” Garcia said.
The fourth quarter is no different from the last three, with BVH scoring the first point of the quarter, followed by a point scored by ORHS. BVH scores another 3 points in the quarter, continuing to maintain the heavy lead against ORHS. As the timer ticks down towards the end of the game, ORHS scores one last point, the fourth quarter ending with a final score of 22-6.
Kovar expresses that BVH was nothing short of dominant, fueled by teamwork and communication. JV players were also involved in the game, given a chance to bond with each other, further improving their chemistry as well as experience in the game.
“We work as a team by always looking for each other and remembering that you play as a team, not an individual player, and that you always have teammates that you can pass the ball to,” Kovar said. “The best part was that we got to play with our JV players, and give them an experience where they know how to play at varsity level against a varsity level team, and they can learn to work with our varsity players and all work as a team.”
