Varsity Boys Water Polo Heads into Bye Weeks on Winning Streak

With their preseason fixtures now all wrapped up, the Redwood Boys Varsity Water Polo team looks to carry their momentum into EYL play.

By: Lucas de Lima

The Varsity Boys Water Polo team have wrapped up their preseason campaign and are now in their “dead period,” a two week stretch of no scheduled matches before East Yosemite League (EYL) play starts on October 1st at the Porterville Panthers.

The Rangers will head into EYL with an overall record of 6-3.

The Rangers finished their preseason strong with back to back wins, the first of which was the Rangers home opener, played against the Bullard Knights on Tuesday, September 10th, with a final score of 14 to 5.

On the Bullard game, #4 David Ross, ’25, says, “I think we played great. Defensively we only let them score five. We had great communication on defense, and on the offensive side we played great too. We had fourteen goals, we had great work to our centers and our outside played great.”

Ross and #10 Jake Bettencourt, ’25, led the Rangers in scoring with three goals apiece, and #1 Weston Rawson, ’26, #5 Sam Feierbach, ’25, and #11 Brett Peterson, ’25, shared the most assists with two each.

The difference of the home crowd was noticed by Ross. “[It] felt great, especially getting that w, smacking a team. It felt really good. Play[ing] out for the crowd, the crowd got us hype. [We] put on a good show for the fans,” says Ross.

On Thursday, September 12th, the team traveled to the coast to face the San Luis Obispo Tigers, and came home with a win by the score of 8 to 7. #3 Kelan Anderson, ’25, led the way with three goals, and #7 Cody Burton, ’25, marked three assists.

#17 Jacob Lightfoot, ’26, on the performance of the team against the Tigers, says, “[We did] really well considering they were D1 runners-up last year, I’m really surprised and really happy that we beat them. A lot of good work by the boys.”

On traveling to the coast to play a passionate water polo school, #2 Caleb Solis, ’26, says, “I like the challenge. It’s a good challenge to go with those good teams. I mean, they were runners-up in [the] D1 valley [championship]. So it’s a good challenge to play those good teams, no matter where they are.”

Redwood now enters its dead period of the season. Even with the lack of games, the team looks to maintain focus and make the most of the time off.

Solis says, “I know the team’s going to be working hard. For me however, I’m going to be working extra hard. This is a time to get better without having any games. I can have this period where I don’t have to worry about tiring myself out for games. I’m going to try my best to get better. I know the team is motivated [as well].”

With the team having already played nine games so far this season, strengths and weaknesses have arisen.

On the weaknesses, Solis says, “I feel like at times it can be the patience. I feel if we just wait a little longer we could find a better shot. Sometimes we just try and get the counterattacks, throw the ball down, and we miss opportunities.”

On the strengths, Lightfoot says, “Teamwork. We are all really close together. It’s like a brotherhood in Redwood water polo. So being able to work as a team is probably our biggest strength.”

With goals in mind, Ross looks far ahead into the season towards the ultimate prize. Ross says, “This season we’re looking to win that D2 valley [championship]. We’ll start with league then move into playoffs, then we’ll see how it goes, but [the] ultimate goal is that D2 valley ring.”

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