The Santa Barbara girls water polo team held off Long Beach Wilson 5-3 on Tuesday in its first game of the Newport Harbor Tournament before running into powerhouse Corona del Mar and losing for the second time this season to the Sea Kings, 9-2.
Charlotte Hendrix scored twice for the Dons in the first game and Samantha King contributed a goal, two assists and three steals. Leah Gonzales didn’t score, but dished out two assists and recorded two steals.
The Dons stretched a 3-2 fourth-quarter lead to 5-2 to get the victory.
“Our defense is getting much better,” said head coach Mark Walsh, whose team is now 3-5 on the season.
Against CDM, freshmen Hendrix and Elle Ingalls managed to post scores for the Dons against the talented and undefeated Sea Kings, who beat the Dons 10-2 in early December.
Santa Barbara continues tournament play on New Year’s Eve with two matches, starting out with Edison.
