By Kaivo Kadai, Staff Writer
// As the season for the men’s water polo team (3-20 overall, 0-5 league) comes to a close, the program gains excitement for upcoming seasons with a developing team.
The Dons kicked off the second half of their season with a 13-2 win against Pittsburg on Sept. 28. However, future matchups proved to be more difficult, with a 4-13 loss against Campolindo on Oct. 4 and a 2-17 loss against Las Lomas on Oct. 11.
The higher levels of experience of many opposing teams posed a challenge for the Dons, with many Acalames players relatively new to the sport.
“Most of the teams in our league have played club all of their life, and there’s a couple of kids on our team who played club, but more than half of our varsity team started either last year or this year. So we are all pretty new to it,” senior Toby Brock-Utne said.
Instead of focusing directly on winning games, improvement has been the central theme for the Dons as they are practicing towards later advances.
“We are focusing on smaller goals this year. We are still a new team. We have a lot of guys who have not played a lot of water polo, but they are working hard and coming in. It is not as much about the wins and losses this year as it is about continuing to improve. As we get better, those wins will come more and more,” Head Coach Nick Jordan said.
Consistent practice and hard work paid off for the team throughout the season, shown in game performances.
“We have had a really big improvement. We have had the season starting really rough but we’ve gotten a whole lot better. We are running plays now, we are driving into sets, we are getting our cross passes, we are really good,” junior Sam Whipple said.
Even though the Dons have faced many challenges this season, the team chemistry they have built up should prove crucial for the team’s success next season.
“We play well together, and we get better every game,” senior Tyler Gerhardt said.