The girls water polo team gave the Sea Hawks a pre-holiday win against Long Beach Poly, ending with a final score of  9-4. This win adds to their collection of victories, being the seventh game won in their winter season. The game had aggressive offense and tight defense from both sides, with Redondo pulling through with an outburst of points toward the third and fourth quarters. Senior Audrey Bonelli, who plays center, was overjoyed by the win, which was the team’s first victory at a home game in three years. 

“It felt really good to win especially since it was the first home game of the season. It feels good to open up the season on a high note,” Bonelli said. 

Throughout the game, the team maintained a strong defense, keeping Long Beach Poly at bay. In the first half of the game, the team made the majority of their goals, using their skills to their advantage.

  “We had good communication and a lot of movement which opened up a lot of good looks,” Bonelli said. 

 The team was also able to run different plays, specifically including isolation techniques to increase their lead. An isolation play is when a weaker defender goes against a stronger opponent, increasing the chances for the opponent to score.

“We run one [isolation] called Maui,” Bonelli said. “Three starts with the ball, two drives all the way across to open up space for one to post it up. And [from there] we’re able to get a lot of good looks.”

During the second quarter of the game, both teams attempted to score with some success, some passes coming too strong or too weak. Players such as Remy Errett and Finley Murphy contributed to Redondo´s scoring in the second and third quarters, beginning to gain traction against their opponents. With a score of 8-2 in the third quarter, Redondo had made numerous goals which kept Long Beach Poly on their toes. Along with the isolation plays the team incorporated drills beforehand for practice and five-on-six techniques, which helped them score on their sets.

According to junior Evelyn Hlakty, who plays right-side wing, executing a five-on-six technique takes a specific set of actions.

“If [the opponent] fouls someone, or does certain things like pressing too hard or swimming over someone, you can get kicked out. So we have six offenses and they have five defenses,” Hlakty said. 

Despite Long Beach Poly scoring two goals during the last quarter of the game, they could not catch up to Redondo because of their unwavering defense. Remy Errett scored a final goal, finalizing the score of 9-4. 

 Hlatky credits their win to team spirit, in addition to good communication and defense. Having a win at home is especially important for the team because they are surrounded by friends and family.

“We ran through a lot of different drills and a lot of different plays before we played our first home game. We took a lot of what we did poorly in our tournaments and we worked at it so that we could do our best at our first home game,” Hlatky said. “Team spirit [is also] very important to our team. A lot of the dads will show up and make their own chants for the team and everything.”

Although Hlatky agrees away games are fun, she values the environment that home games create, which helps improve the team’s drive. The positive energy from supporters encourages the players and keeps them hopeful.

“A lot of the worst games that we played were because we couldn’t get our team spirit up. I feel like our team gets into a lot of funks, like when we’re playing really bad or if someone messes up, we sometimes don’t feel driven anymore, so it’s important [to feel that support],” Hlatky said. 

Both girls feel that this victory was a crucial point for their season, the victory only strengthening their resolve and the team as a whole. 

¨We worked really hard for this game. We’ve had our ups and downs in the tournament, but that’s just made us a better team,” Hlatky said. “We know what needs to be worked on, and we are going to keep improving.”