Courtney Is the Lion That Roars in Goal

She’s been the voice and last line of defense for the last four years.

Yelling, directing, encouraging--and stopping a few hundred shots--Loyola Marymount senior Devon Courtney has helped her team win the Western Water Polo Assn. championship and qualify for the NCAA’s Final Four for the second consecutive year.

The Lions (20-7) meet UCLA (21-3) Saturday at 5 p.m. in one semifinal, and Stanford (21-2) plays Michigan (25-11) in the other at 3:30. Both games are at USC’s McDonald’s Swim Stadium.

Coming out of Soquel High, near Santa Cruz, Courtney was not heavily recruited. But Lion Coach John Loughran saw enough potential in the 5-foot-9 goalie to bring her in as a foundation for the school’s second-year team.

She has been all that and more. Courtney has 853 career saves, including 210 this season.

“Coming in, she was going to have this position right away, I knew she could handle that responsibility. Our program is based on defensive philosophy, and with her as our backbone, we’ve been able to develop our defense around her,” Loughran said. “As the program has grown, she’s been a big part of it. Defense is why we’ve been able to be competitive with better teams. She’s led us each step of the way to the next level.”

Courtney’s strength shows not only in her ability to stop shots, but also in the way she motivates her teammates. She dominates the net, and when she is not directly involved in the action, Courtney can be heard guiding her teammates.

Courtney came to Loyola in the fall of 1998, a few months after the school’s women’s water polo team completed its first season. At the time, there were no expectations of winning a championship and there wasn’t much pressure. Courtney found that an attractive combination.

Loyola was 18-13 and 18-16 in Courtney’s first two seasons. With the introduction of more stringent weight training and conditioning programs, the Lions were 23-7 last season.

Courtney, who made six saves in the Lions’ conference-winning 8-4 victory over ninth-ranked UC San Diego on April 28, has played a major part in the program’s progression.

“She’s like a drill sergeant, but not in a bad way,” said Meredith Bellotti, a senior two-meter defender. “She rarely has a bad game, and when we lose a game, she still played well. When we beat teams that we shouldn’t have beaten, it’s because of her. She’s the most consistent player I’ve ever seen.”

Courtney, Loyola’s student athlete of the year for 2001-2002 and the 2002 most valuable player of the WWPA, says she doesn’t play for personal recognition.

“It’s my job to make that save because everyone has worked so hard to get [the shot] to come from that place,” Courtney said. “Everyone has just played their role so well on this team. We’re like a machine, and when it comes together like that we’re unstoppable.”

Courtney has seen her team improve, but the Lions face tough competition in top-ranked UCLA.

The Bruins defeated Loyola, 11-1, in a semifinal last season.

“Last year we got there and it was like all we had to do was be there and I think that reflected in our first game,” Courtney said. “But this year we’re more focused on going in there and working [hard] to get respect that we deserve and show how hard we’ve worked.”