Total domination

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers OUT IN FRONT—Rio Mesa High's Courtney Walters, left, battles Channel Islands' Autumn Meade for the ball during Tuesday's Spartan victory at RMHS. Rio Mesa remains unbeaten in league play. If there were a theme for the water polo programs at Rio Mesa High, it would have to be, "Anything your team can do, we can do better."

Last February, the girls' water polo team at RMHS won the Pacific View League title and made the CIF-Southern Section Division IV semifinals, only to lose to Harvard-Westlake.

In November, the Spartan boys' team won the PVL championship and went even further in the postseason by losing in the CIF-SS Division VI title game against Crescenta Valley.

For the Rio Mesa girls' team to top the boys this year, there's only one thing left to do—win a CIF banner.

"I remember watching the boys play that championship game at William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center," senior Morgan McCardell said.

"Playing in front of a big stadium where everyone was on their feet after a goal was scored—it looked like an environment I really wanted to play in myself."

McCardell's teammate senior Lindsay Wolny agreed.

"We have a nice, friendly competition with the boys' squad," Wolny said. "But if they get to the finals, then we have to get to the finals."

Thus far, Rio Mesa's girls have looked like a team on a mission. Entering their Thursday game at Pacifica, the Spartans were 20-5 overall, 6-0 in the PVL.

Head coach Keith McKnett said the current squad has more depth than last season's team.

"We have a more balanced attack this year," McKnett said. "Last year, we relied a little too heavy on our senior stars like Alicia Began and Bianca DiMarcello. Now everyone is sharing the wealth. It's not uncommon for us to have a 4-0 lead and have each goal come from a different player."

Rio Mesa's top offensive players include senior Lizz Branch, junior Jenny Jamison, freshman Courtney Walters and McCardell.

McKnett said all four players have confidence in their shots and skills, and aren't afraid of taking risks.

"Jamison has a lot of intensity when she plays water polo," McKnett said. "She's very aggressive and determined to win every game.

"Branch has come a long way and is now very good at positioning herself. She also has a really hard shot," the coach said.

McKnett has been especially impressed with Walters, who last weekend was named MVP of the Oxnard Tournament, which Rio Mesa won.

"I knew about her and how good she was before she came to Rio Mesa," McKnett said. "The one thing I worried about was how she would fit in, how she would gel with the other players."

McCardell said Walters has been right at home in the Rio Mesa pool.

"She's really stepped up," McCardell said. "We lost some really good players from last season, but Courtney has made the transition a lot easier.

"We still give her a hard time for being a freshman, but she's really proved herself."

Walters said her success has come as a surprise.

"I didn't know how well I would play when I came to the team," Walters said. "I just figured I would do the best I could. My teammates have all helped me become a better player."

While Rio Mesa's offense has been explosive, the defense has also been stellar.

To make room for goalkeeper Charlotte Nelson, McKnett decided to move last season's keeper, Wolny, outside the cage.

"They're both so good, it just didn't make any sense to keep one of them on the bench," McKnett said. "So I made the change.

"Lindsay is a very good leader for us in the pool. She's a very good defender, but she also has offensive skills and will score a goal from time to time."

Wolny said playing in the field again has been a bit of a difficult transition.

"Conditioning-wise, it's been a lot harder than playing goalkeeper," Wolny said.

"As a goalie, you don't swim as much as the other players, so the practices were tougher for me at first. I miss being a goalkeeper, but I'm a team player. Whatever the team needed me to do, I was going to do it."

In fact, the whole team says they've been giving everything they have, especially in practice. According to Branch, not a day goes by where the squad doesn't think about last year's tough playoff loss.

"Every single practice I think about that playoff game," Branch said. "We wanted to win it all so much, and when we didn't it felt so bad.

"These days in practice, it seems at least once a day someone will yell out, 'How bad do we want it?' and then the whole team will yell out in unison, 'So bad!' There is nothing we want more as a team."

Other players contributing for Rio Mesa include seniors Katie McGuire and Kayleigh Jeffrey, junior Andrea Mallul, and sophomores Aubrey Larson and Ashley White.