Her Play Speaks Volumes

It’s not that water polo player Lisa Saenz doesn’t like scoring goals. After all, she has a state-leading 135. It’s just the idea of talking about it that makes her uneasy.

“I don’t think scoring goals is that important,” said Saenz, who plays for Golden West. “There’s too much emphasis on it. I think steals and assists are just as important.”

It’s that attitude, combined with her desire to improve, that has made Saenz (pronounced “signs”) one of the state’s top players. She is also tied for the state lead in steals (102).

“She plays the game all out,” teammate April Horn said. “But she’s shy about it. It’s just hard for her to say.”

Saenz took up water polo as a freshman at Marina High, when the sport was coed. Her initial goal was to find something to break the monotony of swimming--which she started around age 10.

She quickly discovered she liked the team aspect of water polo more than anything else. She played two more years at lower levels, then prior to her senior year, the Southern Section sanctioned girls’ water polo as a sport.

She said she enjoyed the more equitable competition, and when Golden West added women’s water polo last fall, she decided to continue to play. The decision was easier when John Wright, who coached Saenz in high school, got the job at Golden West.

Last year, her first at two meters, she scored 80 goals and the Rustlers finished fourth in the state. But this year, despite often being double-teamed, Saenz is doing much better. The Rustlers are 28-1 and top ranked in the state.

“Basically,” Wright said, “she puts all-out effort into it. A lot of teams just look at that [scoring] list and they try to just stop her. But we have some other pretty good players.”

Nadine Akers, who occasionally plays two meters, is second on the team with 80 goals and Amanda Ogle has 49 for Golden West, which starts play in the South Coast Conference tournament Friday at Long Beach Belmont Plaza.