In the fall, the boy’s water polo team dominated the pool and ended their season with a CIF title. The Cathedral Catholic women’s water polo team however, has been preparing themselves to not let the boy’s success downplay their plans for the 2014 season.

The girls are starting off the season strong with a 6 and 4 record after participating in ten games so far. They especially had a big win against Carlsbad and participated in the Villa Park Tournament during their preseason.  According to senior water polo player Abby Anniccharico, the team’s preseason scrimmages against Patrick Henry and Bishops were good starting points for the team and helped them to see what they need work on before league starts. Senior captain Lizzy Bliz said the girls especially need to work on their six-on-five defense and communicating more as a team.

In preparing for their season, the girls have been training extensively six days a week. During these three-hour practices, the girls switch off from lifting weights, to swimming, working on specific drills, and scrimmaging. Lizzy Bliz said the team specifically lifts weights two days a week and swims during every practice for at least an hour and a half.

The team is keeping a positive attitude at practice and during their games, so they are mentally prepared to earn themselves a spot in the CIF Championship. To do so, they especially need to demolish their main rivals Coronado, Bishops, and La Jolla.

Captain Lizzy Bliz helps the team keep focused on these goals. She said her job is  “to make sure that everyone is on the same page during the game and to have a positive attitude that all the girls can feed off of.”

This year there are four seniors on the team including Lizzy Bliz, Abby Annicchiarico, Becca Kuypers, and Mikaela Greeven. With a majority of the team being underclassmen, these four seniors are looked to for encouragement by the younger players. The Union Tribune named Lizzy Bliz and junior Kelsey Blacker as players from the Cathedral Catholic women’s water polo team to watch, so make sure to keep up with their stats in the Union-Tribune.

This year, the women’s team has two new female coaches: Nicole Maichrowicz and Jackie Puccino. Both coaches are new to the team and have big plans for the season, including hopefully a chance at CIF.

“It’s going really well having two female coaches. They both bring a lot of positive energy to the team, and they know how to get us motivated,” said Lizzy Bliz.

The girls’ next game is this Thursday at 3:15 against La Jolla in their pool.