Building a girls water polo program that can compete with perennial powers Mira Costa and Palos Verdes has been a tough task for Redondo head coach Shelby Haroldson but the success of her squad this season went far beyond her expectations.
“I definitely knew at the beginning of the season that this was a talented team and that we would be in the running for a Bay League title,” Haroldson said. “But I never imagined that we would go undefeated in Bay League games. It was an incredible feeling…our players, coaches, parents and fans were beyond excited to win Redondo’s first Bay League championship in girls water polo.”
Redondo last won a league title in 2000 before joining the Bay League. Its 6-5 victory over Mira Costa secured the crown thanks to Sophie Maguy’s four-goal performance and goalkeeper Katie Wrightsman’s 10 saves.
Redondo (26-3) is seeded second in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 playoff bracket and hosts Hillcrest in the first round on Wednesday. A victory advances the Sea Hawks to the quarterfinals to play the winner of the Long Beach Wilson – La Serna game on Saturday. With the exception of the finals, all games are slated to start at 5 p.m.
“We are all ready and excited for the opportunity to play in CIF and see how far we can go,” Haroldson said. “We are going to be working very hard to make it into that championship game. I think my team just needs to keep doing what we’ve been doing the entire season: working hard in practice, playing as a team and having fun in order to bring home a title.”
Semifinal games are scheduled for Tuesday with the championship games played Saturday, Feb. 25 at William J. Woolett Aquatics Center in Irvine.
Competing in Division 2, Mira Costa (15-13) plays at Troy Wednesday with the winner likely taking on top-seeded Agoura who faced Beckman in the first round.
Despite being ranked No. 1 in the final Division 4 poll, Peninsula (15-7) was not listed on the brackets because of an error in information submitted by the Bay League to the CIF.
A revised bracket was released but the Panthers were forced to play a wild-card game against Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks on Tuesday despite earning the No. 3 seed. Peninsula won 14-3 and will play at La Quinta Thursday at 6 p.m.
In Division 5, El Segundo (15-11) plays at Alemany in the first round on Wednesday with the victor advancing to face either second-seeded Beaumont or the winner of the Tesoro-Burroughs wild card game.
In Division 7, Chadwick (6-6) was defeated by host Cate 12-9 in the first round.
Brackets and results are available at cifss.org.
