Water Polo Team Wins First League Championship in School History
Water Polo Team Wins First League Championship in School History
The Sage Hill varsity water polo team made history on Tuesday, October 24 -- winning the School’s first league championship for the sport with a 5-4 victory over Webb School.
“The pressure and importance of this game was very evident throughout the whole game as both teams missed many opportunities to score,” Aquatics Coordinator and Water Polo Coach Pavle Filipovic said.
The team played strong defense, led by senior Miles Wilson on the goal. The Lightning broke the 4-4 tie with less than 30 seconds left in the game as senior Zane Drobenko scored after a foul.
“Webb had a last opportunity to score and tie the game again, but Miles Wilson blocked the lob shot, and we were able to control the ball and come up with the historic win," Filipovic said.
The championship win gives the team a strong confidence boost for the rest of the season and going into the playoffs, said Filipovic, who joined Sage Hill over the summer.
“As a coach, I am very glad and proud that the boys were able to reach this milestone and in a sense, start a new chapter of the water polo program at Sage Hill School,” he said. “We worked very hard in the last 10 weeks since we started the season and winning the league was one of the main goals that we wanted to accomplish as a team.”
The win automatically qualifies the team for CIF-SS playoffs in Division 5, which start next week, according to Athletics Director Megan Cid. The pairings for the playoffs will be released Saturday at 10:00 AM. It is likely that Sage Hill will host the first round of playoffs on Wednesday, November 1.
“All the hard work, dedication and discipline from the student athletes and the coaching staff has really paid off. It has put Sage Hill on the map in regards to aquatics, and we are so thankful to all who have supported and believed in the vision for aquatics at Sage Hill,” Cid said. “We will continue to build from here and are excited to not only see how our team performs in the CIF-SS playoffs, but to see the future growth of the program!”
Sage Hill School
Sage Hill School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and athletic and other School administered programs.