By Hannah Park
On Thursday, Dec. 8, Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) girls’ varsity water polo defeated the Santa Ana Saints with an outstanding score of 17-5. The lady Barons’ first varsity home game took place at Edison High School.
The top scorers were junior Jessica Jang, who scored five goals, and sophomore Kalia Wesley with four goals.
“The girls stuck to their game plan: lots of speed, working hard…and communication with each other,” head coach Kyle Adama said. “The game plan paid off for us.”
The cry of “Barons!” was still ringing in the chilly air when junior Jianna Balta won the initial sprint. However, junior Liberty Jones just overshot the goal. A turnover ultimately led to a goal for the Saints, making the score 0-1.
That being said, the Saints’ initial victory wouldn’t last long. Senior goalie Megan Lundquist blocked another attempt by the Saints. After a few turnovers, the Barons scored their first goal, generating hearty cheers from the audience.
Wesley made three additional goals to bring the final score of the first quarter to 4-1. Wesley made the last goal with only 35 seconds left in the quarter.
The second quarter was an echo of the first, with Balta winning the sprint for the Barons. The Saints scored first again, bringing the score to 4-2, but Jang quickly regained the Barons’ three-point lead with 15 seconds left on the shot clock.
Junior Reese Meister played a stellar defense by blocking shots, stealing the ball and keeping the offensive Saints close to the edges of the pool to prevent them from scoring. Balta also shone with two speedy goals, bringing the score to 7-2. She scored her second goal after one of the Saints was ejected, giving a six-on-five advantage for the Barons.
Sophomore Nicole Waldschmidt and junior Liberty Jones made two clear goals that bumped the score up to 9-2. The Saints squeezed in one goal, a long corner shot, but by halftime, the Barons were up by a margin of six points (9-3).
The Barons completely shut out the Saints in the third quarter, scoring five goals and bringing the score to 14-3. Balta made one goal, while Meister and Jang scored two goals each.
One tense moment came to a head when Jones’s shot bounced off the corner of the goal. Jang, who was right in front of the goal, collected the ball and hit it straight into the net. Cheers exploded from the audience over the saved goal.
Lundquist also made a spectacular save when she deflected a direct shot from the Saints up and over the goal. The Saints grew desperate with 23 seconds left in the quarter, but the Barons put up a strong defense and carried their 14-3 score into the last quarter.
By the fourth quarter, the Barons went straight into action. Balta won her fourth sprint, and the Barons took the opportunity to score, Jang netting her fourth goal of the game.
After the turnover, Wesley snatched the ball from the Saints and rose out of the water to score another goal. The Saints tried valiantly to make up their 13-point deficit (16-3), but Lundquist blocked two powerful shots from her goalpost. With the Saints right up against the goal, she blocked the ball at extremely close range by rising up out of the water.
While play was stopped, the Barons brought in Meister, senior Nicole Bolin, and junior Meleana Walker to close the game. With a fresh offense, Jang fought off her defenders to make another goal with only 10 seconds left on the shot clock.
The Saints managed to make two late goals—one with two minutes left in the quarter, and the other a lob shot with just 14 seconds remaining in the game. Despite their efforts, the final score was 17-5.
“I thought the game went pretty dang well,” Lundquist said, elated by the team’s performance. “We had a lot of good plays.”
The Barons’ training paid off remarkably well. Along with good communication, their tireless energy in the pool led to a clear victory.
“Our passes are really good and our defense is strong,” Jang said. “It was good for our season to get our winning rate up….I’m so proud of us.”
Fresh from their victory, the girls’ varsity team will prepare for their tournament this weekend in Chino Hills (Friday and Saturday).
