The Hood River Valley High School water polo teams hosted an Oregon 5A/6A tournament at the Hood River Aquatic Center last weekend. Both the boys and girls teams took first place, defeating a 16-team field consisting largely of 6A schools. Summaries provided by coaches David Robinson for boys and Kellie Dunn for girls.
The boys concluded their tournament with an undefeated record through bracket play and the seeded playoffs. There are 20 boys on the team, seven of whom are new players. The new players and freshmen made up a B Team at the tournament and took fifth place in an unexpected and amazing display of ability.
“I was blown away by the poise of 14-year-olds playing against 18-year-old varsity players,” Robinson said. “They never gave up and kept fighting even when pretty outmatched; crazy coming from freshmen boys.”
Senior captains Jed Little and Saylor Sunby led the championship Eagles alongside seniors Connor McElwee, Corbett Blackman, Clayton Lee, Adam Burke and Pen Paphanchi. HRV took care of Bend High School handily 10-2 in the championship game.
“The boys were pretty dominant,” Robinson said. “Their physical and unrelenting defense set the tone, while an explosive offense was a tough 1-2 punch.”
On the girls side, a similar dominance was observed. The Eagles won all five games, some of them by double digits: They crushed Lincoln High School 11-1, defeated Bend 6-2, whooped Sheldon High 12-1, cruised past Sunset 14-6 and then edged Summit in the championship game 6-4.
“It was tough being thrown into real game play after just five days of practices, but every team was in the same position,” Dunn said. “The team looked comfortable with the pace and physicality that comes with a real water polo game.”
Team captains Faith Ocheskey, Olivia Sumerfield and Madaket Greenleaf stepped up their play to help lead the Eagles. New players adjusted well to high school water polo, with freshman squad Emma Titus, Stellar Parker and Bergen Rust able to experience an intense level of play and adapt readily in an aggressive, physical game.
The goalies for Hood River, Jenni Ruggles and Mary Rose Kissinger, also helped the team by limiting the number of goals scored.
“Starting our season off by defending our home pool with a first place win sets a great tone for the rest of our season,” Dunn said. “I’m excited to see this team continue to improve together as the season goes on; everyone on the team is a hard worker and eager to improve.”
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