HOOD RIVER - The Hood River Valley High Eagles Class 5A boys and girls water polo teams concluded the regular season by winning games last week, providing them with momentum going into the state playoffs this week.
The 5A Eagles (21-5) took first place in the Class 6A Mt. Hood Conference. The Eagles will face either West Albany or Ashland in a first-round, 5A state tournament game Nov. 6 at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton. The tournament will conclude with the championship match on Nov. 7.
“I’m excited about the state tournament,” said Coach Kellie Dunn. “It’s the culmination of everything we’ve done this season and it’s what we’ve been preparing for since August. Our team is so strong, we have so many weapons and so I hope that we’ll peak at the right time at the state tournament.”
The Eagles (2-2 league) play games in two different conferences; they finished in second place this year in the six-team Class 5A North League standings behind the Summit Storm (5-0 league, 18-2 overall).
HRV won an Oct. 26 home game, 11-7, over the No. 4-ranked Barlow High Bruins (14-11). They followed with an 18-1 home win, Oct. 27 on senior night over the West Albany High Bulldogs (1-9). They concluded the regular season on the road with 10-5 loss to the No. 3-ranked Class 6A Lake Oswego High Lakers (18-4).
“Barlow always comes ready to play and they are a slippery team that always has creative game plans that keeps us on our toes,” said Dunn. “I was stoked at how the team kept battling hard even as goals seemed to be going back and forth. We knew that was going to be a tough game against Lake Oswego. We found our footing in the second half, and we looked like we had more control than earlier in the match, but it just wasn’t enough to get a win.”
Eagles celebrated senior night in the matchup versus West Albany. Seniors Nysey Heredia Merida, June Loizaga Cuena and Karely Bolanos Romero were honored.
Dunn said: “It was really nice to get a final home win for our seniors. It was a bittersweet celebration as we can’t wait to see what our seniors will do next, but they’ll leave a hole behind for sure. They have each made such a positive contribution to our team and their leadership has been exemplary.”
Eagle boys win on senior night
The No. 10-ranked Hood River boys water polo team also celebrated senior night Oct. 27 at home with an 18-1 win over West Albany. Coach Cael Price’s HRV team has just one senior in Andrew Stehlik. He helped lead the Eagles to the win over the Bulldogs by scoring seven goals.
Price said: “Our boys are hungry for the opportunity to attend the state tournament, and we have proven that we can compete with all of the remaining top contenders. We need to remain focused and healthy this week to give ourselves the best chance to finish the season with some hardware.”
The Eagles were scheduled to host a play-in round home game Nov. 3 against the Willamette High Wolverines (7-5). The winner of that contest advances to the state tournament Nov. 6-7.
On Oct. 26 at home, the Eagles lost 17-3 to the No. 4-ranked Barlow High Bruins (21-5). In their final regular season road game Oct. 20, the Eagles lost 10-9 to the No. 5-ranked Mountain View High Cougars in Bend.
“It was a back-and-forth game against Mountain View and we led at halftime, but we just fell short at the end,” said Price.
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