Brittany Fullen

Steve Virgen

‘The Challenge” came from coach and went to player after a senior

goalie graduated from a CIF Division IV championship team.

Brittany Fullen, welcome to the Corona del Mar High girls water

polo team.

Last year, shortly after CdM captured its first CIF title in girls

water polo, Coach Aaron Chaney told Fullen, now a 6-foot-1 sophomore,

to get ready to guard the cage, as the Sea Kings prepared for another

championship run in CIF Division II.

“After (Jessica) Wells left, Chaney told me that I would be the

one,” Fullen said. “I was excited.”

In addition to the challenge of providing the defense required for

a second straight championship, expectations developed. With Fullen’s

height and her high degree of potential, Chaney and the Sea Kings

expected her to pick up where Wells left off. So far this season,

Fullen has been fulfilling that desire.

As the anchor of CdM’s defense, she has been one of the reasons

the Sea Kings have cemented themselves among the elite in girls water

polo. And, to think, this is only Fullen’s third year playing the

goalie position.

“At first I didn’t like it because I just didn’t understand,”

Fullen said of playing goalie. “Once I started to get it, I liked it.

I still get a little nervous before every game. That is kind of nice

because that keeps me on my toes. But I never get really nervous.”

As the season has progressed, Fullen has gained confidence. Though

the Sea Kings lost to powerhouse Foothill, 6-3, Fullen recorded a

most memorable save on a penalty-shot attempt by Foothill standout

Brittany Hayes. That, too, has provided Fullen with momentum.

“She has come a long way in her confidence,” Coach Chaney said of

his sophomore goalie. “She was on the frosh/soph team last year and

she moved up with the older girls in the summer. It was tough for her

at first, but she has handled it all really well. She just keeps

improving. She has come such a long way. She feels comfortable out

there and that has a lot to do with her attitude and her approach.”

Fullen has shown her comfort and her stability, especially in the

past three games. She recorded nine saves in CdM’s 16-8 victory over

Laguna Beach Wednesday, a win that virtually locked a fourth-straight

Pacific Coast League title.

Fullen earned Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week honors after

stopping 14 shots in the Sea Kings’ two wins last week. She began the

week with an eight-save performance that led to a 13-5 win over

University and she followed that up with six saves, which helped the

Sea Kings defeat Santa Margarita, 8-7.

“We want to go all the way,” Fullen said of CdM’s goal of another

CIF title this year. “But, we’re also taking it one game at a time.”

Fullen said she gathered her confidence and joined the team’s goal

of winning a CIF championship during this past summer.

“During the summer it was kind of like I was starting to get used

to the team,” Fullen said. “It helped. I really got close to all the

girls and learned what it was like to play on a team that was really

good with so much talent.”

Fullen appears to be the final piece in the Sea Kings’ puzzle of

being a complete team, a team that is making another championship

run.