APTOS — Thirteen games in 17 days.
The Aptos High girls water polo team has had a busy first half of its season.
“It’s bad coaching, if I’m being honest,” said head coach Mark Knapp.
Call it a scheduling blunder, if you’d like. But one thing is undeniable: the Mariners’ breakneck schedule has helped shake off any offseason rust they had built up.
“We’ve been playing a lot together, which is definitely helping,” said Aptos High senior Kristen Malone. “It’s busy, and it’s a lot of stress, but definitely repetition is really helping.”
The Mariners have done plenty of winning in the short amount of time. Aptos has won eight of its last nine games, including its last four Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan division contests to grab second place heading into the second round of league play.
Aptos (10-3, 5-1) has had little time to prepare detailed game plans — something Knapp said he would work on in the six days leading up to their game at Santa Cruz High on Oct. 4 — and has instead returned to the basics.
The Mariners have focused on communicating on defense, making smart, crisp passes in transition and staying active and engaged on offense. Their talent has turned that simple approach into a winning formula.
“Learning how to move around, getting our hips up, that all comes with learning the basics,” said Aptos senior Kelly Taylor. “Executing that, it’s been key.”
It also doesn’t hurt to have a small but strong group of seniors that have plenty of varsity experience. Malone has played on varsity since her freshman year, while Taylor and Jordan Wagner are now in their third varsity year.
Malone has a team-leading 39 goals, 71 steals and 31 assists. Taylor is second on the team in goals (35) and Wagner is tied with Malone for the team lead in assists (31) while also recording 23 goals and 57 steals.
That trio has offset any uneasy feelings about losing last year’s five-player senior class that reached the Central Coast Section playoffs for the third straight season.
“I’ll be very honest, I underestimated this team, like I do with most of my teams,” Knapp said. “Game experience is what really gets the girls going. You can practice, practice, practice, but you don’t know what you have until they play against another team. Some of that intimidation factor goes away a little bit, and they start gaining some confidence. They’ve surprised me.”
Most of Knapp’s early-season concerns stemmed from a vacancy in goal. With Kaylee Pryor gone to graduation and their backup goalie deciding not to play this fall, Aptos was without a starter in the cage. Knapp’s worries did not dissipate until senior Bella Stephens suited up, jumped in the pool and almost immediately set the tone of the Mariners’ stingy defense.
“She’s doing a more than adequate job,” Knapp said of Stephens, who has made 75 saves over the course of the season.
Harlow Sairs, Reina Garcia, Brystal Hume, Gigi Schneiehert and Sophia Violich complete Aptos’ nine-player senior class that hopes to make a deep run in the playoffs.
Malone, Taylor, Wagner and Sairs have all had a full year to stew after last year’s first-round exit from the CCS Division II playoffs against eventual runner-up Menlo, and want to wash out that taste from their mouths this season.
“We felt like we should’ve done better,” Taylor said. “We all did well, but I don’t think everyone’s head was in it. We weren’t mentally in it. I don’t know why, but I feel like this group is a little different.”
The team’s hot start has Knapp reevaluating the Mariners’ prospects in the CCS playoffs. With the implementation of the Open Division, which removes powerhouses like Soquel High and Sacred Heart Prep from the D-I and D-II fields, Aptos doesn’t see why it can’t compete for a title come November.
“It’s a little more doable to possibly pull off a CCS championship, and that’s what we have to shoot for,” Knapp said. “Where it all ends up? We’ll see. We have to get to CCS first. Let’s not count our chickens before they hatch, but we are in a good place right now.”
