University City water polo coach Jackson Ziegler was having sophomore Elena Johnson run the gauntlet. “When you’re tired, when you’re out of breath, this is a good time for you to take a good clean shot,” Ziegler, the sixth-year coach, second year with the girls, implored the eight varsity players in the pool.
He has a calm, even way of speaking to his team, sounding like the writer (he has an epic fantasy in rough form, looking for an agent) and teacher (subbing at UCHS and Standley at this point) that he is.
Johnson had to shoot, then swim to her right and make contact with a teammate several feet away, then swim back to the middle and shoot again. Eight shots in total. After swimming to the right, she had to swim to her teammate on the left and back.
It was exhausting, but great preparation for those closing minutes when the Cents’ game was on the line, which happened four days earlier and the blue-and-silver came out with a couple of wins in a round-robin tourney with Mar Vista and West Hills on Jan. 18. Now they’re ranked number one in Div. III (9-6, a 0.51 rating at this writing), in this latest new era of computer calculations of strength of schedule combined with wins and losses — all by the numbers, from one to 39, dictating new league configurations every single year.
“We hate it,” senior Jordan Einav dead-panned, after a two-hour weekday practice, shivering beside the pool. The evening outside the pool complex at Standley Pool was dark, the temperatures dropping into the 50s, as Einav and teammate Sophia Klapperich headed to the team bench to wrap themselves in towels.
“I enjoy playing because it’s coming and playing with my friends,” shared Einav, a swimmer since age four and water polo player with Klapperich all four years of high school.
“(Water polo) is aggressive, but it’s a good aggressive. It’s a way to get frustrations out,” Jordan said further, with Klapperich nodding in assent. “This is a better way to (get frustrations out).”
Einav, again taking the lead, explained, “It has been a pretty tough season. Our set (center) broke her finger, then our goalie sprained her arm.” Ziegler and the team have had to fill in and patch up, with just enough players on the varsity to fill the rotation.
Maddie Yoo is the Cents’ goalie who suffered an early-season injury. The other seniors include Aubrey Merlene-Gregg, Nova Canatsey, Annelie Meylan, and Kayla Toman.
Seven seniors have played all four years for UCHS. “I wanted to come back this year,” said Ziegler, carrying on with the boys team for over half a decade but only having the pair of years coaching the girls team. “I knew the seniors were coming back, and they’re good.”
UCHS shares Standley Pool with Mission Bay and Clairemont, the latter having its home pool refurbished, in a complicated juggling of scheduling at the aquatics complex.
