After falling to Gunn on Tuesday, girls’ water polo dominated against Homestead and won 7-2.

“I think we had really good communication today,” Katie Francis (‘16) said. “We were seeing everyone in the counters and when the set was open.”

The game started off strong for the Vikings, with continued control over the ball. Within the first three minutes, Izzy Kelley (‘17) scored. Her goal was quickly followed by successful shots taken by Alina Drebin (‘15) and Tess Van Hulsen (‘15), bringing the score to 3-0. The girls continued to play offensively throughout the first quarter, with what few shots were taken by Homestead blocked continuously by goalie Joanna Falla (‘17).

Going into the second quarter, the Vikings kept up the competitive spirit by mainly keeping the ball away from their side. After numerous attempts, Francis sunk the ball into the back of the net. Retaliating, Homestead scored its first goal of the game. The second quarter ended with a score of 4-1, with Paly still in the lead.

In the third quarter, the Vikings continued to have possession and a strong lead. Kelly and Francis both scored; however, Homestead was again able to make another shot, making the score 6-2.

The girls’ offense slowed down in the fourth quarter, although several attempts on goal were made by Van Hulsen and Francis and strong pressure forward was shown by Olivia Scola (‘15) and Gigi Rojahn (‘16). Van Hulsen scored the final point of the game, ending 7-2 with a strong win for the Vikings.

Despite the team’s seemingly strong presence in the game, some of the players felt that the girls could have played stronger if they had more energy.

“In this game, our energy was a little low,” Francis said. “Coming out a little stronger would definitely help us.”

Rojahn agreed with Francis about the lack of spirit in the pool.

“I think our energy wasn’t as high as it usually is today,” Rojahn said. “We played Gunn on Tuesday and had really high energy, but weren’t as lucky. This game, we just didn’t play up to how we can usually play and didn’t really get into the game. There was nothing really bad that went on, but it wasn’t as high energy as usual.”

The girls will take on Los Gatos on Tuesday, October 14th.