Although tough defense and offense from their opponents made the season difficult for the Lady Gophs, the team worked hard to make it all the way to State.

On Nov. 4 at the Osborn Aquatic Center in Corvallis.  The squad faced off against South Eugene, after finishing their season with a 4-14 record.

According to sophomore point  Adry Mendoza, the players have all worked very well together, which made the season a successful one. Mendoza added that direct dialogue has been key for all the players.

“We know how to communicate without getting overly frustrated with each other,” Mendoza said.

State has been something that many of the players have been training for and have been dreaming of.

“Going to State has been one of my personal goals since I started playing,” senior whole set Jasmin Kennard said.

Preparing for State was something that had been taken seriously this year. Coach Sean Taylor told the girls what was expected of them when they made it to the state game.

“He said we need to work hard and work together,” Mendoza said.

The day of State, the players got ready to go against the number one team, South Eugene. Being that the Axemen were placed number one, after a good season, the Gophers had their work cut out for them.

“I wasn’t used to being against a team who, for the most part, didn’t have a bad player,” Jordan said.

South Eugene had a great goalie that kept scoring difficult. The Gophers tried to adjust to this and prepare for it beforehand. One strategy they used was having the point act as a second goalie, as opposed to their primary responsibility of defending the hole set.

“As for offense, we focused on ball movement and tried to work from hole set because they had a very good goalie,” Kennard said.

Playing against a team with several good shooters and a good hole set made it difficult for the Gophers to score. Shots were made too easily that could have been prevented.

Many of the teammates are proud of the season they have had. A lot of positive teamwork and being together for a few seasons has helped the team as a whole.

The players always look to play a clean game and have fun in the pool, as they leave whatever happens in the pool in the pool.

“We leave things in the pool. We hardly ever hold grudges against other teams, and we play as clean as possible,” Mendoza said.

This season, the team played against some tough teams that took the players to the limit. However, they held through and played hard.

“Even though the competition in our conference was tough and there were many games that were frustrating, the team still brought energy to the pool to make water polo fun and never gave up,” Kennard said.

During the season, the players focused on drills and on defense. Clarifying position playing is something that the team has been improving, according to Mendoza.

The Lady Gophs overall had a good season and it was shown through the games they won and worked hard for.

Playing against David Douglas during the season showed that the players had put forth the effort to show their improvement.

“The first time we played them, they beat us by a lot, but the second time we played them the game was a lot closer,” freshman wingHanna Jordan said, “and it’s because we finally put on place what we’ve learned.”

From the start of the season to the end, there was a lot of improvement in both the players, as well as their techniques in the pool shown thorughout the tough season. The team stuck together and always brought energy to the pool according to  Kennard.

Last season, the Gophers had struggled with gaining wins. This year, that was not as much of a problem.

“My favorite moment was when we won against Centennial and Lakeridge,” Mendoza said. “Last year we didn’t win any games, so when we started winning a few this year, we were very happy.”