Prep Water Polo: Lady Bulldogs remain perfect; set team record for wins

The Sobrato girls water polo team continues to roll, improving to 14-0 after sweeping the Watsonville Tournament this past weekend.
The Bulldogs have now surpassed their best win totals in the school’s young history, besting 11 wins from 2009 and 2011.
Sobrato has one more tournament and five more Blossom Valley Athletic League games left in the season before the league championships in November.
The team went to Watsonville and went 4-0, defeating Stevenson, Turlock, Salinas and San Benito for the Bulldogs’ fourth consecutive tournament win this season.
Sobrato jumped out against Stevenson to open the tournament, getting a big lead then coasting to a 10-5 win. Coach Dave Burnett said he played a lot of subs in the game, which pushed the game closer at the end.
Later that day, the Bulldogs initially got in a dogfight with Turlock, before Abby Pfefferlen hit two goals in the second quarter to ignite the Sobrato offense.
That led to a 10-3 win to remain perfect through 12 games.
The next day, things got a little tighter.
Salinas held Sobrato all square after three quarters, 3-3.
But behind the charge of Laeni Gross, who scored two goals in the final period, the Bulldogs pulled ahead and took a 7-5 win.
For the championship, Sobrato met with San Benito, who likewise went 3-0 to that point in the tournament.
The Balers got out to a 2-0 lead before Sobrato jumped out.
Cameryn Gillis and Isabell Okamura notched key goals in the third and fourth quarters, respectively to win 8-6.
Burnett said the team’s defense shone through the four games, standing strong through the four games to keep the winning streak alive.
“The defense did great as usual,” Burnett said.  “Everyone get back and help.”
Goalie Sesa Ferdun turned away several key shots, including a penalty shot against San Benito.
Now the road is going to get tougher, Bernett said.
Sobrato opens BVAL play 5 p.m. Wednesday at home against Leland, who has been to at least the semifinals in the playoffs each year since 2007, including a CCS championship in 2011 and a finals appearance in 2012.