By Cathy Wang | Opinions Editor

This fall, both girls’ and boys’ water polo teams have performed better than in previous years. Girls had an overall score of 15 wins to 9 losses, while boys finished 13 to 11.

As one of the top three teams in the league, the girls qualified for the North Coast Section (NCS) championships for the first time in over five years.

Co-team captain and senior Ishwa Muzzafrey attributes their success to the team’s good attitude throughout the season.

“We had a strong bond [and were] all very close. We went through so many ups and downs [and] still came through,” Muzzafrey said. “We had good communication and teamwork.”

Co-team captain and senior Kitty Hu thought the team had their best games against American High School.

“At the American tournament, we played cohesively as a team,” Hu said. “We had determination to win and stay[ed] positive throughout the game.”

For next year’s team, freshman Jane Zucker thinks there is still room to improve on the team’s 6-on-5 strategies.

“6-on-5’s are when players do something illegal and are on time out for 30 seconds, so there’s 5 players against 6 players,” Zucker said. “There are certain strategies we need to practice for those situations.”

The boys’ water polo team also improved from losing all its games in the past three years to winning a majority of their games. The team chemistry improved this year through team-building events. Members bonded over hiking Mission Peak, eating breakfast together, and even swimming a mile in the San Francisco Bay. Their teamwork paid off at their games.

“Our best game was probably the tournament against Washington. We had good passes, good sprints, and good shots.” sophomore Alex Huynh said. “We played four games and won three of them and ended up 2nd place in the tournament overall.”

However, there are still things to improve.

“One weakness is that we were not being smart with the ball,” team captain and senior Parsa Ganjooi said. “Whenever a player would get the ball they would shoot it right away or pass it off rather than looking for better options.”

The water polo teams will be losing six senior girls and six senior boys for next year.