By Madeline Crowley
As the second ever Westmont water polo season begins, hopes are high for what is to come. Coming in clutch, Kate Mullen stepped up to be the new girls head coach this year, along with her assistant Jeff Bissel. The two will hopefully lead the exuberant girls to some exciting victories after their 0-3 season last year. The teams’ growing roster has a total of 19 girls this year, although only 7 players compete in the water at once. Team captains are yet to be decided, but there are three seniors on the team. One of them, Carina German, states, “My favorite thing about water polo is getting to learn and grow with my teammates while also having fun at each practice or game.” Freshman Amanda Tran exclaims, “I’m feeling really good about the upcoming season, it’ll be super fun to just play with the team no matter the outcome—it’s only Westmont’s second year doing wapo, so no expectations!” Wapo is a nickname for the sport they all love. Junior, Isabella Dockin, participating in her first year of girls wapo, analyzes one of her team’s strengths: the girls on the team are “really good at communicating and working together as a whole rather than just as individuals.” Sophomore Sofia Chappars adds on, “Our weakness is definitely just how many girls have never played before and others have barely played. But, with how we are doing I think everyone is improving drastically.” Water polo is still popularizing in the Bay Area, so only a few schools are lucky enough to have teams. Come support the girls on September 20 at their first home game against Mt. Pleasant here at the Westmont pool deck! No matter how the season turns out, it is important that they are representing Westmont in this awesome sport! Go girls wapo!!