Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Warriors win girls water polo league championship

Fallbrook High School's girls water polo program finished the regular season with a 12-2 overall record including a 5-0 mark in Valley League play which earned the Warriors the 2020-21 league championship.

"It was a total team effort for us this year. At times I was playing up to four freshmen, so it took our juniors and seniors helping to guide them," said Fallbrook coach Sean Redmond. "The whole team just stepped up and played very well."

Valley Center had a 4-1 league record to place second in the standings. Ramona was 3-2 in Valley League play for third place. Fallbrook traveled to Ramona for a May 14 game and returned home with a 19-3 victory over the Bulldogs.

The May 28 game against Valley Center at Fallbrook involved two teams who at the time were undefeated in league play. The Warriors held a 4-2 halftime lead, and the final score was 7-4 in Fallbrook's favor.

"That was exciting. It was a fun game that the girls really wanted and needed to get us ready for CIF," Redmond said.

The Warriors closed out their Valley League season June 2 at Mount Carmel, and an 18-9 triumph over the Sundevils gave the Warriors an undefeated league season. Fallbrook's regular season concluded June 3 with a non-league home game against Oceanside, and the Warriors prevailed in that 17-6 contest.

"Part of our trademark for Fallbrook girls water polo is our speed, and throughout the year that was evident," Redmond said.

The Warriors' two losses were to El Camino and Del Norte. "Those teams were able to control that speed a little bit better than some of the other teams did," Redmond said.

"If you lose, you can still learn from it," Redmond said. "If you're able to make the adjustments that makes you a better person and a better team."

Only three of the Warriors were seniors, although junior Jocelyn Jones is a military dependent and left the team May 15 after her father was transferred to Colorado. The Warriors began the season with 10 varsity players including Jones, and some of the 13 junior varsity players had games on the varsity. "It was a lot of fun to coach this group of girls this year," Redmond said.

Other than the win over Valley Center to clinch the league championship, no specific regular-season game stood out. "Every one of them had unique things about them," Redmond said.

The CIF seeding and selection meeting gave Fallbrook the eighth seed in the CIF Division I playoffs. That was the Warriors' only tournament this year. "We had eight home games this year," Redmond said. "We're lucky if we're able to get two or three."

Gathering limits due to the coronavirus outbreak prevented invitational tournaments. The delay in the resumption of CIF sports also created a season which began April 29. Normally girls water polo is a winter sport.

"It was kind of nice to have a polo season where we don't have to worry about being cold and in rain," Redmond said.

The CIF playoffs were played after school was adjourned for the academic year, but the players opted for the post-season rather than for a longer summer vacation. "That just shows the type of team we had this year," Redmond said. "They stuck around."

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

Reader Comments(0)