The No. 1 Dos Pueblos girls water polo team and No. 10 Santa Barbara started play in the SoCal Championships on Thursday.
The Chargers won two games handily and barely broke a sweat in their first one, a 22-2 rout of Irvine B. Whittier was much more competetive, but still fell 13-5 to last year’s Div. II champs.
The Dons also won their first, a 13-7 decision over Long Beach Milliken. Mark Walsh’s team had a tough draw in the second round, takng a 10-5 hit from Div. I’s No. 5 team in Foothill.
DP’s Kodi Hill recorded a hat-trick in both games as did Santa Barbara’s Makenzy Fowler. The Dons’ Olivia Cusimano had the single-game scoring high for either team, with four in the win over Milliken.
Nicole Morelos and Tiera Schroeder shared time defending the cage in the absence of the injured Sami Hill.
Kayla Rodriguez also posted three goals in DP’s first game and Laurel Kistler came up with five steals.
Against Milliken, the Dons were knotted up 6-6 at halftime before scoring four goals to their opponents’ zero in the third quarter to take control. Charlotte Hendrix tallied two goals, three assists and two ejections drawn in the match.
Santa Barbara plays one on Friday, a 5 p.m. contest with Irvine.
