Congratulations to the Acalanes Junior Varsity Water Polo Team for coming in third place at the 2022 Acalanes Invitational played at Campolindo High School! The energy was high with hundreds of exceptional female athletes competing amongst 16 teams. Let’s go Lady Dons!
Acalanes started the tournament on September 9th playing Northgate under a blazing hot sun. Jenny Haugner and Elyse Budke both scored in the first quarter. At the beginning of the second quarter, Aca goalie Hanna Mirzai blocked a strong Northgate shot. Arianna Berloui executed a beautiful backhand goal. With Northgate in possession of the ball, Kate Roberts made a key steal, boosting Aca’s momentum. Aca played with control, passing the ball until there was an opportunity to shoot. Budke scored with an assist from Olivia Whipple. Arianna scored her second goal of the game. In the third quarter Whipple scored after stealing the ball. Mirzai made another epic block. Siena La Rotonda scored with an assist from Budke. The quarter ended with Arianna scoring her third goal. In the fourth quarter Estelle Block had possession of the ball and got dunked by the Northgate defender, leading to that player’s exclusion. Block passed to Haugner who scored. After an attempt by Northgate to score, Haugner stole the ball, sprinted down the pool and scored! Final score: Acalanes 10 – Northgate 6.
Acalanes played Monte Vista in the second game. Aca had their first goal when Olivia Whipple stole the ball and passed it to Juliet McIlwain who scored. In the second quarter, Aca’s defense was just as relentless as the heat. They forced MV to run out the shot clock several times. Adrianna Berloui demonstrated perseverance when she missed a shot but fought for the ball and scored on her second attempt. After the Aca defense forced a turnover, Adrianna dribbled in fast and scored. It was then Arianna Berloui’s turn to score and she ended the quarter with two more goals. The third quarter started with back up goalie Estelle Block being called in to sub for Hanna Mirzai who was suffering from the extreme heat. Arianna scored with an assist by Olivia Whipple. Arianna and Adrianna both scored after MV turnovers. Adrianna scored with an assist by Bella Bundy. The fourth quarter passed without scores from either side. Final score: Acalanes 9 – Monte Vista 5.
The next day, with a break in the heat wave, Acalanes played against Miramonte. In the second quarter, after some incredible passing, Lexi Allio scored, giving Aca their first goal of the game. In the third quarter a Miramonte player accidentally tossed the ball into their goal, putting a goal on the board for Aca. The fourth quarter started with Emme Martin coming in as goalie. Arianna and Adrianna both scored in the fourth quarter. Final score: Acalanes 4 – Miramonte 15
Acalanes competed against Carondelet for third place in their fourth and final game. Each quarter started with an epic swim off. In the first quarter Olivia Whipple brought the tenacious defense and forced a turnover. Kate Roberts scored with an assist by Elyse Budke. Estelle Block was in as goalie and had several tough blocks. After passing the ball around, waiting for the right opportunity, Adrianna Berloui scored with an assist by Juliet McIlwain. Towards the end of the second quarter, Budke played great defense moving the Carondelet player back against the lane line forcing her to lose the ball out of bounds. Olivia Whipple won the swim off to start the second quarter. A strong wind kicked up sending spectators’ hats flying and sinking the Aca goal. Thankfully, it didn’t prove to be a bad omen. Adrianna went on to score two goals and Arianna scored one. The third quarter started with Siena La Rotonda stealing the ball after Carondelet won the swim off. After some minutes of play in which both teams took shots that were blocked, Adrianna took a shot so quick that the Carondelet goalie didn’t know what hit her. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 6-4. In the fourth quarter, Aca played amazing defense, forcing Carondelet to run out the shot clock several times. Whipple scored a goal, giving Aca some breathing room. There was some back and forth play, but Aca’s defense remained strong. Final score: Acalanes 7 – Carondelet 5.
-Bethany Block