The Buena girls Water Polo team made their way to Ventura High School as they battled it out in a two-day tournament held from Friday, Nov. 22 to Saturday, Nov 23. The team played three games in their first tournament of the season, finishing with one win and two losses.
The previous head coach of the girls team was fired earlier this preseason, giving very little time for the new head coach and team to figure each other out.
Their first matchup was a test of how well they could perform as a team for the first time as they faced Long Beach Poly.
The first half of the match looked promising for Buena as they built a strong lead, but Long Beach Poly rallied, narrowing Buena’s advantage to just two points.
In the fourth quarter, Long Beach Poly was granted four penalty shots, three of which were blocked by Buena’s goalkeeper Senior Bella Bruno.
“That’s just not normal for a goalie to do,” Buehner said. “It was wonderful having a goalie that could do that,”
A stellar performance by Bruno in a crucial situation allowed Buena to secure the game and end their first day with a win, 17-13.
“We really needed that win,” junior Audrey Kwasny said. “I feel like that gave us inspiration,”
The following morning at 10 a.m., the girls showed up hoping to build off of their first win as they now faced Agoura.
Throughout the first half, Buena seemed out of it as they trailed in points throughout the game, leaving Agoura with many unanswered goals.
“Bella had a lot of one on nobody’s,” Buehner said. “So that was frustrating,”
During the third quarter, Buena began to pick things up and almost flipped the match as they ended down by two.
In the last quarter of the match, Buena’s offense was able to stabilize, with some great shots hitting the back of the cage.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs suffered a tough loss, ending the game with a final score of 13-10 Agoura.
With limited rest in between games, the Bulldogs knew that to win their third match against Murrieta Valley, they would need to continue playing with no regrets and 100 percent effort.
The first three quarters followed a similar pattern, with both defenses delivering solid performances.Few goals found the back of the net, but when they did, both teams remained energized and fought hard to close the point gaps.
As the fourth and final quarter began, the Bulldogs continued to keep the score tight, but dealt with aggressive matchups that ultimately shook the team.
In a heartbreaking loss, Buena lost by one, ending 10-9 Murrieta Valley. The two teams shook hands and the Bulldogs finished fourth place in the tournament.
“I feel like we played that game very strongly,” Kwasny said, “that was just a hard team.”
Although Buena didn’t achieve their desired outcome in the tournament, they had only one week of practice beforehand. Following the dismissal of their previous coach—due to various reasons, including not holding practices—the team was adjusting to a new coach with minimal conditioning or preparation. Despite these challenges, their ability to remain competitive against such high-quality teams was truly impressive.
“We have a lot of hope and excitement going forward for the season,” Buehner said. “This tournament showed us that we are capable of being better,”
