Sea Kings rule the sea

Bryce Alderton

Though pain might have shown on the outside, it didn’t seep into the

hearts of the Corona del Mar High girls water polo team, not with the

ultimate goal in mind.

With senior center Brittney Bowlus nursing a right eye that

swelled to the size of a strawberry and senior Daniela DiGiacomo

playing with an injured knee, the Sea Kings outlasted any hindrance

that came their way, and won their second consecutive CIF Southern

Section title, a 10-5 decision over Villa Park, in Division II this

time, at Belmont Plaza Saturday.

Last season CdM beat El Dorado by five goals for the Division IV

championship.

CdM Coach Aaron Chaney tried, but couldn’t avoid being thrust into

the pool at the conclusion of the game, as his team jumped in to join

him in the celebration of victory.

Bowlus, who scored once despite receiving double teams multiple

times at two meters, crouched in a chair, trying to smile as much as

she could, teammates padding her on the back and offering hugs. The

UCLA-bound senior was hit with an elbow below the right eye in the

first half, showing a purple mark.

“Brittney is a stud,” said senior Danielle Carlson, who capped her

prep career with six goals against the Spartans (21-10). “I knew to

take the shots, but not be selfish. I just tried to make things

happen.”

Carlson, who is deciding between UC Berkeley and Princeton, added

an assist. She scored all four CdM goals in a span of eight minutes

from the waning seconds of the first quarter to just 21 seconds left

in the first half.

CdM led, 5-2, at the break but Villa Park, whom Chaney and several

players said provided the toughest competition the last two seasons,

closed to within, 7-5, as the fourth period began. Senior Cara

Colton, who scored 113 goals on the season, including one Saturday,

hit senior two-meter specialist Melissa Soria on a give-and-go for

the goal.

But that was the last time the Spartans would find the net, as

Christina Hewko, Carlson and DiGiacomo all scored goals later in the

period to put the game away.

“We were just pumped to be out there,” said DiGiacomo, who injured

her knee when she fell off a balance beam at a team dinner earlier in

the week. She said the knee hurt, and doesn’t know the exact injury,

but was determined to play, as were all the girls, Chaney said.

“For all the hard work these girls go through, I feel great for

them,” Chaney said. “Bowlus did a great job on Soria at two meters

and we played really good team defense, especially on the

five-on-six’s.”

Villa Park scored just once on six player-advantages, while the

Sea Kings tallied four goals on five six-on-five chances. CdM added

two conversions on penalty shots, both by Carlson, after drawn

ejections by freshman Camille Hewko, who scored the team’s first goal

1:11 into the game.

Camille was in on two steals as was senior Jessica Harkins, who

will play at Princeton next season. DiGiacomo and junior Katya

Eadington came up with steals as part of a CdM defense that forced

the Spartans to the perimeter for most of the game.

“They depend on two or three key players and we took them out of

their game,” Harkins said.

Colton scored on a four-meter penalty shot to tie it, 1-1, but

that was as close as Villa Park would get.

CdM sophomore goalkeeper Brittany Fullen solidified the defense,

making a game-high 11 saves. Trailing, 6-3, and with a six-on-five,

Villa Park junior Anne Marie Fisher took a pass at two meters and

fired toward the upper part of the cage, but Fullen leaped with

outstretched arms to bat down the shot and take control.

“Chaney has been working on me anticipating better, but everyone

played really good defense,” Fullen said.

Junior driver Vivian Liao had two assists as did Christina Hewko,

with Eadington adding an assist.

Chaney inserted seniors Keelan Cuyler and Kelli Kline following

DiGiacomo’s goal with 1:25 left in the game. Kline rifled a shot that

was batted before it reached goalkeeper Kristin Davis’ hands. Davis

made eight saves for the Century League champions.

“(Villa Park) is probably the best team we’ve played in CIF,”

Fullen said.

But CdM was better, for the second straight year with a convincing

five-goal margin.

“We worked so hard and it paid off,” said Christina Hewko, who

will attend Stanford in the fall. “This win was just as cool (as last

season’s CIF title).”

Senior driver Katie West suited up for the final time and the

victors were cheered on by teammates Amy Strack, Natalie Wayte,

Jordan Anae, Katie and Tracy Kubas and Ashley Chandler.