In only their second trip to the state championships, the Lady Mustangs placed 9th at the Texas High School State Water Polo Championships, held in San Antonio April 23-24. Representing Friendswood on the state team were Morgan Bluth, Kelsey Castro, Kristyn Cox, Rachel Cragin, McKenna Harclerode, Lauren Lundquist, Hailey Lutz, Julia Maloy, Mady Maloy, Brittany Philbrick, Alana Semple, Briahna Yarberry, and Hannah Zawila.

        The Friendswood girls entered the tournament as the 4th seed in the South Houston Region and drew the number one seed from South Texas, the Lady Mules of Alamo Heights. A fast start by the Lady Mules had Friendswood down 3-1 at the end of the first quarter. Undeterred by facing a number one seed, the Lady Mustangs hit the water in the second quarter determined to play better, and they did. They clamped down on defense and didn’t allow the Lady Mules to get fast break opportunities. On offense, Lundquist, from a sharp angle, and Castro, from the top of the slot, both found the back of the net with pinpoint shots, matching the Lady Mules goal-for-goal, ending the half with a score of 5-3, down by only 2 points.            
        Friendswood continued to pressure Alamo Heights by playing some of their best defense in the 3rd quarter and held the Lady Mules to a single goal. Friendswood matched that goal and came out of the 3rd quarter down 6-4. In the 4th quarter, Friendswood had to take some offensive chances and press for the tying goals. The Lady Mules took advantage of the pressing offense and scored twice on fast breaks, outscoring Friendswood in the quarter 2 to 1 and winning the game 8 to 5. Scoring for Friendswood were Team Co-Captain Lundquist with two goals, Castro with two goals, and Team Co-Captain Harclerode with one goal. Helping to keep a strong Alamo Heights team to a single-digit final score and keeping Friendswood in the game, defensive standouts were Kelsey Castro, Rachel Cragin, Haley Lutz, and Alana Semple.           
        Friendswood’s second game pitted the girls against the third seeded team from the North Texas Region, the Flower Mound Lady Jaguars. The Lady Mustangs started the game with the same intensity with which they ended their first game. Scoring twice in the first quarter, Friendswood held the Lady Jaguars scoreless for all but the last 2 seconds of the first quarter, when Flower Mound scored their only goal of the game. The scoring started within the first minute of the game as Semple threaded a pass to Harclerode in the slot and Harclerode found the top corner of the goal to give Friendswood an early lead. Lundquist followed with another pretty shot to the far corner and Friendswood ended the first quarter up 2-1. Upset that Flower Mound scored in the last seconds of the first quarter, Castro stepped up her defense at the start of the second quarter and continuously got into the Lady Jags’ passing lanes for the rest of the game.
        When the Lady Jaguars did create a scoring opportunity, goalie Cox snatched all of those goals out of the box score, leaving the Lady Jaguars wondering if they would ever be able to get back in the game. The strong defensive pairing of Castro and Cox helped hold Flower Mound to their single goal of the game. On offense, Friendswood continued to pass well and had several great scoring opportunities. Cox helped maneuver the team into several scoring opportunities with some great downfield passes to Lundquist and Cragin. Friendswood lit the scoring lamp 3 more times and finished their state-championship run with a 5-1 win. Scoring for Friendswood were Cragin with two goals, Castro with one goal, Lundquist with one goal, and Harclerode with one goal. The team hopes they can build on their second trip to the championship and place higher next year. 

Below is the history of water polo and how it stands in the area.

        Water polo began in the 19th century as a water version of rugby. Anyone who watches a game for five minutes will agree. It’s a rough game, in which many defensive and offensive maneuvers that would be considered “fouls” in other sports are legal. The playing team consists of six field players who must have great speed and stamina and a goalkeeper who has to tread water for most or not all of the game while trying to defend a goal similar to a scaled-down soccer goal.  The game involves a lot of sprint swimming and passing the ball while aggressively defended by the opposing team. The game is played in four quarters.  The objective is to score the most points by throwing the ball, one-handed, while treading water and fighting off defenders, into the net past the goalie. 
        Although water polo is played on the club and junior-high level in the Houston area and around the state, there are no club or junior-high teams in Friendswood, so most players’ first exposure to the game happens their first year at Friendswood High School. Therefore, to compete at State two years in a row is a real accomplishment.