Tiera Schroeder and Alex Hill and the rest of the Dos Pueblos girls water polo team made quick work of Santa Barbara on Tuesday afternoon, routing the crosstown rival 12-3 on Senior Day at Elings Aquatic Center.
Schroeder and Hill had a game-high three goals each for the No. 1 Chargers, who improve to 17-2 on the season while the No. 10 Dons are now 7-12. More importantly, DP now stands alone on top of the Channel League with a 5-0 record while Santa Barbara falls to 4-1.
As has become tradition for the Chargers, seniors Jessica Morelos and Sienna Van Alphen were read notes of well wishes and thanks from underclassmen teammates in a poolside ceremony just before the game.
“That meant so much to hear what they actually think of me as a leader and a lot of that stuff I didn’t know and it’s just made me more excited for the future,” said Morelos, who was inspired to go out and get DP’s first goal of the game on the way to a 7-0 halftime lead.
“We were really excited because we know a lot of the girls on the team. We just wanted a good game and to give it our all,” continued Morelos, noting how the two programs know each other so well from club competition.
“Some of my closest friends go to DP, so it’s fun,” corroborated Santa Barbara’s Samantha King. “It’s great to play up against your teammates that you’ve won other championships with and just to see what everyone’s strength is.”
As a team, Dos Pueblos’ strength on Tuesday was its counterattack, accounting for seven of its 12 scores. The Chargers recorded 11 steals as a team, helping in transition.
“We switched up our defense a little bit so that we could get some counter goals,” divulged Little while admitting the Dons are a tough team to counter on. “We’ve been working more on our counter and where goals have to come from on our counter in the last two practices, and the girls did a good job of getting that.”
The Dons finally got on the scoreboard in the third quarter when Makenzy Fowler drew an ejection and Charlotte Hendrix promptly scored on the 6-on-5. Hendrix added another score soon after. In the fourth, King fired an outside shot into the upper-right corner of the cage to complete SB’s scoring.
“I didn’t think we ready to go. Obviously my pregame speech was worthless,” said Dons head coach Mark Walsh. “We just got beat so bad on the counterattack.”
“We have a lot of room to grow and improve,” said King of her Dons, who won’t be having a Senior Day this season because they don’t have a single one. “We can only go up from here.”
Santa Barbara has a bye on Thursday and faces Ventura next Tuesday while DP has another home game on Thursday against the Cougars.
DOS PUEBLOS 12, SANTA BARBARA 3
Santa Barbara 0 0 2 1 – 3
Dos Pueblos 3 4 2 3 – 12
SB Goals – Hendrix 2, King. DP Goals – AHill 3, Schroeder 3, Redfern 2, Van Alphen 2, KHill, JMorelos. Goalie Saves – SB Brooks 7, DP SHill 13. Records – DP 17-2, 5-0, SB 7-12, 4-1.
