The varsity girls water polo team this Tuesday defeated Archbishop Mitty during the CCS semifinals, earning their spot in the championships with a score of 16-9.

With an overall record of 12-10 before Tuesday’s game, the team achieved their hopes of making finals and getting the chance tomorrow to beat their rival, the Mountain View Spartans. Julia Santos and Cynthia Yee scored six and five goals respectively, earning the team more than half their points. For the first time this season, coach Katie Tasman said, the entire team pulled together a consistently coordinated and engaged defense.

“We’ve been talking about putting together [four] full quarters of defense and that was the first game all season long,” coach Katie Tasman said. “We came out prepared from that starting whistle to the ending buzzer. Everyone was engaged in defense and making sure that they were sticking to our game.”

The girls focused on offense during the game’s first half through fast counterattack to build a quick, wide margin in the scores. By the end of the first half, the Eagles led 6-2. In the past, the Eagles had a hard time getting a good lead in a game, especially playing against Mountain View, but Tuesday’s outcome showed the team’s improvement on this weakness, setting up for the final championships.

“This season we haven’t been good at having a good first half,” sophomore Alesia Piercy said. “So going into the Mountain View game, the coaches and the team are trying to come out strong so we don’t have a hole to dig us up from.”

The Eagles dominated in the third quarter with several defensive blocks by goalie and junior Alex Warren. A tight, communicative defense kept the team from losing momentum and by the end of the fast-paced third quarter, the score was 15-4 Eagles.

The girls held their advantage during the last quarter. With a hopeful mindset for the finals, the Eagles left the pool with a comfortable 16-9 score line.

“Everybody, the starting six to the girls on the bench, even the JV girls that got pulled up for CCS, all made sure they got their mind ready and playing good team defense,” Tasman said. “That really contributed to our win.”

The final CCS Championship game against Mountain View will be played tomorrow at Independence High School in San Jose.