With a strong 9-2 start to the season, girls varsity Water Polo has dominated the pool through hard work, communication, and team bonding. Leading the team to success repeatedly throughout the season are captains Ana Pieper, Grace Gafni, and London Menard.
Ana Pieper
“Our goal this year is to get stronger.”
Senior Ana Pieper, who is the team’s top scorer, has made a splash in the pool with 23 goals this season. With seven years of water polo under her belt, Pieper has high hopes for the 2023 season: her main goal, an NCS victory.
Pieper looks forward to the occasional team dinner. A great way for the team to bond, which Pieper believes is important for the team to succeed. As captain, she likes “getting to know everyone on a more personal level.”
From encouraging the team to play well and making sure everyone is on time to resolving conflicts and making apparel, Pieper does it all as captain. To add to this list, the team’s outfits on game days are also organized by the captains. This responsibility comes with its difficulties. Looking back, Pieper believes “the hardest part is probably picking team morale back up after the team lost.”
In order for an NCS victory to be possible, Pieper suggests team bonding and increased strength training for the team. An already powerful team could dominate in the pool even more with increased force.
Throughout this season, one memory particularly stood out to Pieper. At the recent rally on September 29, Pieper enjoyed watching freshman teammate Lane Kish get asked to homecoming. Coming in close behind as a favorite memory was watching freshman teammate Lilly Holloway also get asked to homecoming.
Grace Gafni
“We hope to crush them this year.”
Four-year varsity player, senior Grace Gafni has the experience and knows the ins and outs of the team.
Throughout Gafni’s six years of water polo, she has had many positive experiences. Gafni recalls her favorite part of water polo, “…definitely the team environment, being with my friends every day and having fun in the water.”
Gafni hopes to use her ability as captain to help others and create a comforting environment. Gafni commented, “I like to be the person that people can come to whenever they have a question, need advice, get something off their chest, or just be there for anyone that needs me.”
This leadership role comes with responsibilities. From making sure the team is punctual, to helping with strategies, to choosing what to wear, the water polo captains cover most logistical details. Additionally, the pressure to set a good example and follow expectations is very high on these seniors as well.
This year, Gafni’s eye is on a win against Miramonte. She noted, “our goal is to beat Miramonte this year because they’ve had a winning streak against us for the past four years and we’ve come close. We hope to crush them this year.”
To succeed this season, Gafni believes the team needs to talk and communicate inside and outside the pool. By communicating, the team will have an easier time moving the ball and creating relationships with one another. Something Gafni thinks is crucial for this season’s team.
London Menard
“The key to success in and out of the pool is having trust with each other.”
With eleven goals this early in the season, senior London Menard has been a crucial contributor to the success of the team. Starting water polo in sixth grade, she has been grateful for the relationships from water polo, “my favorite part of water polo is building the friendships, the lifelong friendships.”
Being captain, she has enjoyed being able to inspire and motivate the team when spirits were low. Outside of this, she helps organize team bonding events and prepares the team for tournaments and games. These responsibilities may seem small, but they make a large impact on the team.
Menard looked back to the most difficult part, the pressure for being captain. She stated, “[One of our coaches] is really strict. She definitely puts a lot of added pressure on us because we are the role models.”
Looking forward to the rest of the season, Menard hopes to beat Miramonte. Miramonte is not only Campo’s biggest rival, they are also undefeated this water polo season. Another goal of Menard’s is for the team to place top three at their tournaments.
