Sailors to be battle tested

Steve Virgen

Defending its Sea View League championship this season will prove

to be challenging, to say the least, for the Newport Harbor High

girls water polo team.

Foothill High’s Knights, Newport’s nemesis, enters the Sea View

League as the heavy favorite to win the league title and to repeat as

CIF Division I champion for the fourth straight year.

Last year, Foothill, which featured three talented seniors,

defeated the Sailors in the CIF Division I semifinal on its way to

the championship. However, Newport, which went undefeated in Sea View

League play and finished 23-7 last year, won’t give up ownership of

the league without a fight.

“I personally believe we can give Foothill a run this year,” said

Newport senior Jenna Murphy, a returning first-team All-CIF Division

I selection who is bound for UCLA. “We have a lot of talent this

year. We’ve been playing together since we were in sixth grade or

fifth grade. We just have tons of chemistry. We have a lot of team

spirit. There are 10 seniors on this team and we all want to win CIF

this year. There is a lot of motivation.”

Newport Coach Bill Barnett is also excited about the season. He

said his squad remains talented even with the departure of Katherine

Belden, last year’s Sea View League Player of the Year who is now

playing at UCLA.

“I expect to have a good season because of our senior group and

also because there is talent here and they have a lot of experience,”

Barnett said. “It’s a veteran team. They play well together. They had

a good summer and played against good competition.”

When asked to describe the Sea View League, Barnett quickly

answered with two words.

“Foothill, first,” he said. “They are the three-time defending

(CIF Division I champion) with the same girls coming back. But it’s

always good to have good competition.”

While Barnett is quick to pay respect to Foothill, he’s also

confident in his team, mainly because of the seniors, including

Murphy, Annie Wight and Paige Lansing, as well as Raelyn Ritchie,

Ashley Parole, Alex Andersen, Tiffany Manderino, Jennifer Scharfe,

Peggy Beebe and KT Adnoff.

Murphy, a left-handed driver who is one of several scoring

options, also earned first-team All-Sea View League status last year,

while Wight and Lansing earned second-team laurels. Murphy scored 42

goals, recorded 53 steals and dished out a team-high 44 assists last

year. In addition, junior Jessica Ball, who earned second-team

All-Sea View League honors last year, returns. Wight (40 goals and 46

steals) and Lansing (27 goals, 23 steals and 30 assists) were

third-team All-CIF selections last year.

“I would like to get to the CIF finals, yet there are some teams

that are in the way,” Barnett said. “There are the usuals: Foothill,

Santa Margarita, Long Beach Wilson, El Toro. Right now we’re about

second or third, but we’ll see what Santa Margarita comes up with.”

Newport’s nonleague schedule includes those powerhouses and more,

including Esperanza, Coronado, Carlsbad, University and Back Bay

rival Corona del Mar. The elite competition should provide experience

for Newport’s newcomers.

The Sailors will have two left-handers this season, as sophomore

Anne Belden, the younger sister of Katherine, will have more varsity

playing time than last season. She was on the junior varsity and

varsity last season. In addition to Belden, junior Carolyn Conway and

junior Terrin Cottam are also moving up. The trio helped lead the

Newport Harbor junior varsity team to an undefeated season.

Cottam takes over at goalie for third-team All-CIF Division I

selection Leah Grocki, who is now playing at Arizona State.