Girls’ Water Polo lost to Leland High School 12-5, in the semifinals of the Central Coast Section (CCS) tournament at Gunn High School.

The game started out well for the Vikings with a great shot by sophomore Sabrina Hall followed by a goal of senior Alina Drebin. Lealand tied the game up with only 5:30 left in the first quarter.The end of the first quarter was dominated by Leland as freshman Nina Flynn shot once on the post and once one the crossbar.The post and crossbar were not the only thing keeping the Vikings in the game as senior Claire Drebin had two blocks within the last three minutes of the first quarter.

Leland quickly took the lead in the second quarter as Palo Alto conceded three goals in less than two minutes. Junior Sophie Frick tried to bring the Vikings in the game with a goal, however Lealand scored quickly after. The Vikings were down by four at halftime.

Leland started the third quarter strongly again as Paly conceded twice within the first minute of that quarter. Palo Alto was unable to score during the third quarter and Leland even scored two more goals.
Leland was winning 9-2 at the start of the fourth quarter. Leland’s lead did not increase during the last quarter as the Vikings scored three goals and conceded the same amount. The game ended on a final score of 12-5 in favor of Leland.

Despite the season ending, coach Aileen Delaney was proud of the team’s performance.
“This game, the biggest thing I can say was really proud as with all of our game, we showed heart and fight from the first whistle to the last buzzer,” said coach Delaney.

Delaney was not only proud of the game but she was also proud of the entire season as it was the first time since 2006 that the team made it to CCS semifinals.
“They put some really good games towards the end,” said Delaney. “Our quarter final game was spectacular. They came back from challenges throughout the season such as not having a home pool, having late practices, ending our league season on two minutes last goal losses but bouncing back and having an awesome CCS.”