Written by Hayley Krolik

The girls’ water polo team came back for a second straight year in CCS, this time making it to the quarterfinals where the team lost to Palo Alto High School (Paly). “We had been in CCS finals the past two years and had beaten Paly twice before,” captain senior Radhika Ranganathan said. “We were a little bit complacent because we thought we were going to win again, which I think definitely affected how we played.”

The team began with a winning strategy, but the other team ended up slipping by them on counterattacks. According to assistant coach Aaron Cavagnolo, the team put in a great effort after losing senior starters. “We were a young team this year and we haven’t had any freshmen start on our team since before Mark [Hernandez] took over coaching the girls’ team,” Cavagnolo said. “We were really impressed with how dedicated they were to improving and stepping up to the challenge.”

Although it ended the season with a loss, the team was proud of its accomplishments. “This is an opportunity for us to learn and see where we want to be,” Cavagnolo said. Their camaraderie was also a huge component of their success. “We are really close—we are a family,” Ranganathan said. Looking back on the game, freshman Michelle Fang feels that she came out of the game with a fresh mindset. “We tried to not let them get in our heads and focus on every single moment,” she said. “You have to focus on ‘what’s important now,’ and we remembered this with the acronym WIN.”