As the UC High Girls Water Polo Team embarks on a new season, many returning and new faces are excited for what is in store.

   Head Coach Jackson Ziegler is thrilled to implement several adjustments during their new season while still retaining an element of fun. Ziegler said, “My goal is to make a pretty good playoff run in Division 3. Because we are ranked pretty high, I think we have really good chances to be League Champions as well. We need to be competitive in that way. For the big group of seniors who have played with each other for a long time, it’s important they play together as a team, have fun, and enjoy their last season.” Ziegler wants to make this a great season for the whole team, regardless of grade.

   Senior Sophia Klapperich said, “My goals for this season are going to CIFs and possibly win CIFs. As for this season, I’m really excited for it, because all of our friends are doing it and I know we are going to work really well together, and I feel like we will do really well”

   “I’m going to focus on physical conditioning this season, because if you are physically stronger, faster and have better stamina as a player, you will have more energy and everything will be easier. It can sometimes be tricky to get a girls team to appreciate conditioning, but I hope to work on it. I also want to focus on shooting, because we struggled with that last year. But overall, I want to keep the team unity and want to create an environment where the team can have fun and want to play,” said Ziegler.

   Ziegler said that as for pre-season training, many of the girls on the team have played club water polo, which is one of the best ways the players can stay in condition. He says that in general, any time that one can spend in the water will impact their performance in numerous ways, which can lead to them being a better player.

   Klapperich said, “I think last season we did well, but we really worked as a team towards at the end, which helped us win more games, which led to the team chemistry being really great.”

  Ziegler said, “The Girls Water Polo season was fairly tricky last season. We had many games where the score was fairly close, and if things would have gone slightly a different way, I think our record would have been a lot better. But with that being said, we had lots of fun as a team. I think the girls got much closer.”

   Overall, the whole team is beyond thrilled to begin this new season of waterpolo, and they look forward to hopefully securing many wins.