Vazzana named Valley League girls water polo player of the year

The Valley League's girls water polo coaches selected Fallbrook High School senior Gabby Vazzana as the league's player of the year.

"I'm honored to receive that," Vazzana said. "I was very surprised."

"It was a surprise to me to be honest because there are some very good players," Fallbrook coach Sean Redmond said.

The all-league first team also included Fallbrook junior Sophia Wallace. Three Warriors were placed on the second team: junior Anna Draves, junior Naomi Wood and sophomore Paris Dowden.

"That was exciting. It showed the level of depth and talent that we had," Redmond said.

This year the Valley League did not have honorable mention all-league players so the Warriors had five of the 14 total all-league selections.

Vazzana played primarily set defense and led all Valley League players with 174 steals for the entire season. She was second among Fallbrook players with 56 goals and added 58 assists.

"She was definitely very versatile, and without her, especially those steals, it would have hurt us," Redmond said.

"I want to say thank you to my coaches," Vazzana said. "Everyone has taught me so much."

Fallbrook joined the Valley League in 2014, and Vazzana is the fourth Warrior to earn league player of the year honors for girls water polo. Jordann Heimback was the 2014-2015 league player of the year, Taylor Dowden received the league's top honor for 2015-2016, and Caitlyn Batty was the 2016-2017 player of the year.

Taylor Dowden is Paris Dowden's older sister. She is also the younger sister of 2009-2010 senior Cassie Dowden and 2013-2014 senior Kierstin Dowden. Vazzana also benefited from the water polo experience of an older sibling; Anthony Vazzana was on Fallbrook's boys water polo team before graduating in 2018.

The Fallbrook Associated Swim Team has a water polo program, and when Gabby Vazzana was in sixth grade both Vazzana siblings were on a coed team.

"I was one of the only girls so playing boys teams kind of toughened me up and got me prepared for high school," she said. "It was pretty easy to come back and play with girls."

Vazzana was on the junior varsity volleyball team as a Fallbrook High School freshman, eventually making that sport's varsity as a junior, and she was on the Warriors' varsity water polo and swim teams as a ninth-grader. She did not receive Valley League water polo all-league honors in ninth or 10th grade.

The Valley League coaches placed Vazzana on the all-league first team for 2017-2018. Her junior year included 130 steals, 43 goals and 40 assists. The swim league champions for each event also receive first-team Valley League honors, and Vazzana was part of Fallbrook's 200-yard medley relay team which won the 2018 league championship.

Fallbrook posted a 5-0 record in Valley League water polo matches this season to win the league championship. The Warriors advanced to the CIF Division II final, which ended as a 4-2 loss to Poway. The Warriors finished the 2018-19 season with an overall record of 19-10.

"I'm so happy that everyone on our team was so dedicated," Vazzana said. "Everybody just wanted to improve."

Vazzana hopes to play water polo in college. She has not made a decision on her collegiate plans. Vazzana attended Sullivan Middle School before her four Fallbrook High School years.

Wallace led the team with 64 goals. She also had 29 assists and 62 steals. She played primarily a driver while also playing other positions during the season.

"She was probably one of our spark plugs," Redmond said. "Sometimes she'd go into set, sometimes she'd go someplace else, and it caused a lot of confusion for the other team."

Draves played set offense and contributed 55 goals, 35 assists and 70 steals. Dowden's season included 49 goals, 34 assists and 83 steals from primarily the driver position. Wood, who was Fallbrook's goalkeeper, made 188 saves while adding 85 steals and eight assists.

Draves was on the 2017-2018 first team. Wood was recognized at the honorable mention last year. Fallbrook's four all-league players for the 2017-2018 season also included 2018 graduate Ella Hearn.

Fallbrook's all-league contingent consists of one senior, three juniors and one sophomore.

"That one senior's going to kind of hurt," Redmond said of losing Vazzana.