“It’s not about the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog,” said senior captain Akhil Venuturupalli, reflecting on the boys’ water polo team’s mentality this season. Thus far, the Panthers hold an 13-9 overall record and remain undefeated in five league games.
With only four games left, head coach Missy McCreary shares the team’s goals for the end of the season: “We want to be as competitive as we can and continue to grow throughout the season. Ultimately, our goal is to win the league and make it past the Division III semi-finals.”
This year, the team’s advantages lie in its experience. With 10 returning varsity players, the team’s experience is one of their strongest factors. McCreary added, “60-70% of our athletes train year-round with our club that we have here at Poly.” The Pasadena Aquatics Club, or PAC, a recent development in Poly’s athletic landscape started in 2023, provides water polo players with consistent practice even outside of the school season.
In regard to this year’s team, sophomore goalie Ajani Durham commented, “Our biggest strength is definitely our defense. I feel like our press and ability to crash back on the center and entry passes have been super good this season. Another strength is our attackers, Kalyx Lara ‘27 and Danny Lara ‘26, offensive threats who do a good job scoring goals.”
However, there are still areas for improvement. “As good as we are on defense, we tend to get countered in transition,” Durham commented.
McCreary agreed and added, “I think something we can improve on is our willingness to be competitive in all aspects of the game, and that includes practice as well as every opponent that we go up against.”
Since the beginning of this year, the team faces fiercer competition this season as they advanced from Division 3 to Division 2 this year. For example, in their loss (10-8) to Burbank High School on Sept. 2, Poly faced a notoriously difficult team infamous for their aggressive physicality and cheap shots both above and under water. Although the Panthers lost, they displayed much improvement from last year, when they lost 15-4 to Burbank.
In the team’s match against Chadwick on Friday, Oct. 3, the boys took home an 18-6 victory. “The highlight of that game was that we capitalized on all our 6v5 opportunities,” remarked Durham. Venuturupalli added, “Nathan Yagura, our up-and-coming junior center, had about six or seven goals. We won because of our superior training and discipline, and we are ready to face tougher opponents.”
Through consistent training and productive games, the Panthers have prepared themselves to hopefully make a deep run in the playoffs.
