Los Alamitos High’s girls water polo team got three wins and two losses and won the 7th place game at the Villa Park Tournament over the weekend. It was a productive weekend of competition and Head Coach Rob Grayeli was pleased with the progress his team made.
Los Alamitos won their first two matches, 14-3 over Santa Monica and 14-8 over Agoura. But the Griffins ran into a Long Beach Wilson team that had won its first two matches by a combined 35-4, and the Griffins suffered a 17-10 loss to the Bruins.
Los Alamitos would also fall to Harvard Westlake in a close 9-8 match, before finishing with a 14-8 win over Claremont in the seventh place game. Hailey Rippeon led the Griffins with seven goals in the closing match, while Saydee Ravelo chipped in five goals. Aubrey Cardoza and Amanda Leung each added a goal.
The Griffins are currently a little undermanned due to some injuries and illness including the team’s only senior, Bella Perez, and No. 1 goalie Madison Ly, who were both unavailable for the tournament. Grayeli added some depth with junior varsity players, but that left the JV team shorthanded at the Downey Tournament as well.
“Typically we do have, like four or five subs, but it’s good, it’s early in the season we’re getting in shape, you know, it’s mental toughness, it’s everyone playing right now,” Grayeli said.
Grayeli said he told the team that he’s more concerned with finding a rhythm in mid to late January and playing their best at that time. The Griffins don’t have a traditional big power player at the two-meter position, but Perez will be tasked with filling that key role in front of the net. But Grayeli said they do have some speed and when they are moving the ball well, they can create problems for defenses, he said.
“We’re a movement team so we’re always moving, as soon as you drop off us we’ll move in and take some shots off of that drive,” Grayeli said.
The Griffins played host to Newport Harbor on Tuesday (past press time) and will be at the Chino Hills Tournament on Friday and Saturday, before taking a break from matches until after Christmas. They will have a big test on Dec. 27, when they play at Foothill High at 11 a.m.
Foothill is ranked No. 6 in this week’s CIF-SS power rankings. Los Alamitos is currently ranked No. 31. But Grayeli sees a lot of potential.
“We’ve got a lot of young kids, we’re really, really young, and so the future is bright for us,” Grayeli said.
