Water Polo Finishes Sixth at Capital Challenge
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The St. Francis water polo team finished sixth at the Capital Challenge Saturday, posting a 2-2 record with wins over Los Gatos and Clovis. It is the highest finish in the tournament under Head Coach Heather Moody.
“Overall for the weekend we have been improving our team defense,” said Head Coach Heather Moody. “We are making sure we can help and have a team attack instead of one-on-one battles. The win this morning was big. It was a team effort. We had multiple people scoring and winning. Defensively we had some great steals and Kate Watley did an amazing job in the cage.”
St. Francis advanced to the fifth-place game with an exciting 8-7 win over Clovis Saturday morning. Sophomore Libby Slater led the attack with five goals with junior Kendall Houck and Reagan Garcia adding goals.
The Troubies lost to San Ramon Valley Saturday afternoon 12-4 but not without a tough fight and great opportunity for depth development.
“They definitely jumped on us in the first quarter,” said Moody. “We played three really hard games leading into that one. We were a little empty on energy but we were able to get deeper into bench and get some experience for the younger players.”
San Ramon Valley jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Alyssa Jacobsen scored before halftime. Houck and Slater scored to cut the lead to 6-3 before SRV scored three unanswered to build the lead to 9-3.
The Troubies opened the tournament by defeating Los Gatos on Friday as Slater and Houck scored four goals each and senior Malia Arnott had three goals.
“Playing the physical game against Rio the night before set us and helped us get ready for Friday,” said Moody. “It set the tone for the weekend, getting us into the top eight with that win.”
SF dropped the second game to Miramonte 13-7.
Slater led the team for the weekend with 10 goals, while Houck had eight goals and a team-best 18 steals.
St. Francis plays at the Roseville Aquatic Center again on Friday to play Woodcreek at 4 p.m.
SF – Slater 4, Houck 4, Arnott 3, Sloat.
SF – Jacobsen 2, Arnott, Slater, Hoang, Houck.
SF – Slater 5, Houck 2, Garcia 1.
San Ramon Valley 12, St. Francis 4
SF – Arnott, Slater, Houck, Jacobsen.