Newport Beach’s Gurnee to play polo at Maryland

Newport Beach resident Alex Gurnee has signed a national letter of intent to continue her water polo career at the University of Maryland.

A senior driver at Mater Dei High, Gurnee was a first-team All-Trinity League selection a year ago for the Monarchs after scoring a league-leading 77 goals. Named the team’s Most Valuable Player, she helped lead the Monarchs to the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs for the first time in several years.

Gurnee, who has a 3.8 grade-point average, said Maryland was always her first choice to play in college. She plans to major in English.

“Maryland’s on the East Coast, and it’s right by Washington, D.C., and I like Washington, D.C.,” Gurnee said. “It has a great academic and athletic program, and I wanted to get out of California.”

Gurnee is a co-captain for Mater Dei this season and has scored 15 goals for the Monarchs (4-3).

Maryland finished 16-18 a year ago and won the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division championship.

“Alex will add a strong outside scoring punch to the team,” Salyer said in a press release. “Her ability to shoot from the outside will benefit our front-court offense as well as our power plays. Alex has a very hard shot that is also very accurate.”

— Matt Szabo