Parents and friends on the sidelines and bleachers were on the edge of their seats as the scores increased one after the other. On Tuesday, Jan. 22, Bonita Vista High (BVH) girls’ varsity water polo team lost against Eastlake High School (EHS) with a final score of 8-7.

The two rivals went head-to-head, with both scores increasing at the same rate. During the first quarter of the match, EHS scored three goals, but during the second quarter, the Lady Barons evened out the score by also acquiring three points. Towards the end of the second quarter, the Lady Barons secured one more point, putting BVH in the lead.

However, while the match was very close, the EHS Titans managed to get the upper hand in the very last two minutes of the final quarter, just after BVH captain and senior Megan Slovatizki (5) put a shot in the net to tie the score 7-7. The game ended with EHS taking the victory, with a score of 8-7.

After the game, Slovatizski was disheartened. EHS is one of BVH’s main rivals this season, so the loss was faced with disappointment.

“I was [upset throughout] the whole game because we should have been doing a lot better. It wasn’t that hard of a game but we kind of just let them score. We are equally ranked with [EHS], so I was disappointed that we lost [because the loss will lower our rank]. We could’ve done so much more,” Slovatizki said.

Slovatizki scored four of the eight points during the game. As Slovatizski reflected on her performance, she believed that as captain, she could have done better in some ways.

“Personally, I think I did well with my offense and defense. I could have been more of a leader on the team by directing the girls where to go when they didn’t know, but other than that I think I did well personally,” Slovatizski said.

While the team’s shooting skills were refined, the team also realized that there are other ways that they can improve. One main area for improvement includes communication.

“I think the team needs to work on communication,. The shot selection definitely showed in the game, so they did very good on shooting. We worked on shooting at practice, repeatedly shooting from different angles and such,” varsity head coach Betty Alexander said.

Attacker and senior Aryel Austin explains that communication is an important skill to develop, especially in water polo, because it involves players of the same team talking to each other in order to create plays that give greater opportunities to acquire points.

“Communication is important because it gets people on the same page of what’s happening and it makes people less confused. Usually when we communicate, we’re communicating drives. Driving is basically moving the ball, sort of like dribbling. Drives open up the play so that we can get more shots on the net,” Austin said.

During the match, there were many instances of good communication, but there were also periods of poor communication that cost the Lady Barons some points.

“We can improve on our defense and communication because there would be girls swimming by and we would be screaming ‘hey, get back!’ and they’re not listening. We just need better communication between each other,” Slovatizski said.

As the season comes to an end in February, the Lady Barons believe that by talking to each other more effectively, they will be more self-aware of their environment, which will eventually pay off in the end.

“We just need to start practicing listening to each other, swimming with our head[s] up, keeping our head on a swivel, just looking for the ball and where the opposing defense is. For the next games, I think that we just need to work on communication. Honestly, we’re just trying to work better as a team and just having fun with it,” Slovatizski said.