Depth. That will be the name of the game for the Live Oak High
girls water polo team if it is to succeed this season. That
’s because the Acorns feature more than just the returning
league MVP — Ronni Gautschi — and returning all-league goalkeeper
Danielle Maldonado this season, while losing just three regulars
from last season.
Depth.
That will be the name of the game for the Live Oak High girls water polo team if it is to succeed this season.
That’s because the Acorns feature more than just the returning league MVP — Ronni Gautschi — and returning all-league goalkeeper Danielle Maldonado this season, while losing just three regulars from last season.
“We return the core of the team,” Acorn head coach Bryan Traverso said. “I think as a starting six we’re much more balanced (this year). Last year, we relied on Ronni and (top scorer and 2004 grad) Chelsea (Laning). ”
Not this season.
While the Acorns lost Laning, Cameron Bair and Jessica Kapetanic, returners Breanna Sennert, Amy Marshall — both juniors, and Amanda Cretcher and Breanna Stevenson — both seniors, offer a more versatile lineup for Coach Traverso.
“One of the really cool things about our team is all our players can play different positions,” Traverso said. “That means if they put their best player on Ronni, we have four or five other players who can make them pay. I thinik we’re going to create a lot of matchup problems for other teams.”
Traverso said many of the players on this year’s squad played during the summer for the Morgan Hill Water Polo team, traveling to Southern California for a tournament.
And, Gautschi will certainly benefit from playing Junior Olympic water polo this summer.
That’s why Traverso seems convinced that this year’s team is capable of surpassing last season’s success, which saw the Acorn girls go undefeated in league to capture the title before losing to Soquel in the first round of the Central Coast Section playoffs.
“I think this year’s team is definitely more focused on making it to the second round (of the CCS playoffs). It was painful to get that far and lose.”
Live Oak is scheduled to begin its season on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. against Notre Dame at Salinas Municipal.
The Acorns also play Santa Catalina on Saturday and Monterey on Sept. 9 before hosting the Wahine Classic Sept. 9-10.
