The Paly girls’ varsity water polo team triumphed against cross-town rival Gunn on Wednesday, Sep. 27 with a score of 15-5, to remain undefeated in its league. The girls were confident they would emerge victorious in their game against Gunn, but were disappointed by their "inadequate" 10-point margin.

"We played well enough to win, but far below our potential," head coach Theo Ludwick said. "We have a lot of work to do if we want to achieve our goals of [winning] league championships and CCS finals."

"We played down to their level when we should’ve smashed them," senior captain Tanya Wilcox, who scored a total of four goals along with five assists and six steals, added.

Three seniors return to the varsity lineup this year: captains Tanya Wilcox, Aly Mackenzie, and Natasha Whitney, along with four juniors: Lizzie Abbott, Allison Feeney, Hallie Kennan, and Amanda Wong. Jenny Whyte, Emily Kennan, Kristen Witte, Alexi Dagan, Talia Kori, and Christy Campbell (who joined Paly from Menlo Atherton) round out the juniors on the varsity squad. An additional four sophomores – Liza Dernehl, Madison Hoffacker, Tara Murao, and Lucy McComas – split their time between the varsity and junior varsity teams.

Right from the tip-off, Paly’s abounding energy and proficiency visibly surpassed that of the Titans. By the end of the first quarter, Paly had asserted its domination with the scoreboard reading 8-1, from the contributions of Lizzie Abbott, Tanya Wilcox, Hallie Kennan, and Aly Mackenzie.

The only downside of the first half was that junior Hallie Kennan suffered a shoulder injury during the second quarter, and was subsequently benched.

"It’s always frustrating to sit out and watch," Kennan said. "But it was an easy game for us, so it was better that I rested and didn’t hurt myself further."

Kennan’s twin sister, Emily Kennan, on the other hand, celebrated her personal success with one goal and one assist.

"It was my first [goal] playing on varsity," Emily said. "Without me, we would have only had 14 [points]."

By the fourth quarter however, Paly was clearly faltering. With only three goals scored (one in the last 20 seconds of the game), by the combined efforts of Campbell and Wilcox, there was an evident decline in organization and communication. Four of Paly’s attempts were thwarted by Gunn’s goalie in the final quarter.

"We played [poorly]," the highly-critical leading scorer of the game, junior Lizzie Abbott, said. "We allowed the ball to turn over too much and we missed too many goals." Abbott made five goals, two assists, and one steal throughout the course of the game.

"We’re dissatisfied with how we played, not with the final outcome," junior Feeney agreed.

Despite her discontent, Abbott shed some light on Paly’s winning strategy.

"A lot of it is anticipation," Abbott said. "It’s important to cut them off, hold space, and stay in the lead."

Prior to Wednesday’s game, Abbott fractured her nose while doing sprints during practice.

"We were conditioning, and the situation was really weird," Abbott said, amused. "All of a sudden, I saw Natasha’s arm flash across my face and I felt sheer pain."

In spite of trivial setbacks, victory was sweet against Paly’s long-time nemesis, Gunn.

"It was pretty satisfying," junior Amanda Wong, who scored one goal and made three steals, said. "We were all really pumped up."

"We pretty much knew we were going to win," Wilcox said. "But that didn’t make us overconfident."

As for the rest of the impending season?

"Overall, this should be an exciting season," Ludwick said with expectancy. "The new pool has been great, and we are all looking forward to playing our [upcoming] games in it."

Even with the loss of six seniors, Ludwick believes that the team is just as strong.

"We graduated some great players, but are returning an experienced group with great chemistry," Ludwick said. "The ladies have a great work ethic and are making good progress."

Last weekend, the girls competed in the all-day Norcal Champions Tournament at Davis. Of the five games they played, the Lady Vikes won two: 6-5 against Clovis West and 7-5 against Campolindo, and lost three: 5-6 against St. Francis, 4-13 against Davis, and 8-13 against Buchanon. Their next home game will be at 3 p.m. on Oct. 11 against Saratoga.