One tough Bulldog

Evelin Setaghian didn’t exactly burst onto the Burbank High girls’

water polo scene with a splash.

It was more like a tiny ripple.

Small in stature and raw as a player her sophomore year, she was

far from the confident, dominating player she was destined to become.

“Her sophomore year four years ago, she was on the junior varsity,

she wasn’t even a varsity player,” Burbank Coach John Abdou said. “My

first year as a coach was Evelin’s sophomore year, and I brought her

up to varsity,” Burbank Coach John Abdou said.

“Her sophomore year, she really had no business being on varsity,

to be honest. She was barely hitting 5-feet tall, maybe she weighed

90 pounds soaking wet, and she didn’t have that many skills as a

water polo player.

“But one of the only reasons why she made varsity, and why I

brought her up, is because of her drive and her attitude. She has

more heart than anyone in the program.”

Although she made the Bulldog squad, Setaghian spent most of the

season stranded high and dry on the Burbank bench.

However, late in the season, she finally got a start -- against

cross-town rival Burroughs -- and Setaghian responded with two goals.

“I can’t tell you how scared I was in that game against

Burroughs,” said Setaghian, whose brother, Andre, is a former Bulldog

player and coach of the school’s boys’ team. “I was wondering what I

was doing in there with a lot of good girls.

“But I scored the goals, and I even amazed myself.”

From that match against Burroughs, Setaghian worked hard to

improve and perfect her skills. And as her success as a player has

increased over three years, so has the success of the Bulldog

program.

This season, Setaghian helped Burbank to its finest campaign in

program history, as she proved to be the catalyst on a team rich with

talent.

Because of her unrelenting team leadership, along with putting up

impressive statistics -- which included four school records -- the

editors and writers of the Burbank Leader and News-Press have named

her the All-Area Girls’ Water Polo Player of the Year.

Setaghian used her cunning skills and deceptive power to overwhelm

her share of opponents. Along with scoring 63 goals, she also tallied

38 assists, took 104 shots and converted 61% of her attempts -- all

school records.

She also led the Bulldogs to an 18-9 record and a second-place

finish in the Almont League, behind powerhouse Montebello, which lost

in the CIF Southern Section Division I quarterfinals to Long Beach

Wilson, 14-6.

Setaghian’s talents and accomplishments weren’t lost on the rest

of the league either, as she was named player of the year.

*

After an unimpressive sophomore season, Setaghian showed signs of

progress as a junior, but was still not an impact player.

“As a junior, she wasn’t the girl who scored all the goals, and

she wasn’t the girl in the limelight,” Abdou said. “But she was the

one who did all the little things we needed in [matches.]

“What her junior season showed me is that Evelyn has the concept

of teamwork down. She knows what teamwork is about, and she will do

whatever it takes to help the other players and to help the team.

“She also realized she didn’t have to be the one scoring all the

goals to be a contributor. And that is a big concept for any player

to grasp.”

Abdou said what helped Setaghian improve as a player was the time

she put into the sport during the offseason. Since her sophomore

season, Setaghian and the Bulldogs have spent the majority of their

offseason playing and working on water polo.

“We had tournaments every weekend,” Abdou said. “We had practice

every day. We had scrimmage nights in La Canada and scrimmage nights

in El Rancho. We were all over the map. Between Evelin’s sophomore

year and her junior year, I think we played upwards of 75 to 80

[matches]. And that took a lot of dedication on [the players’]

parts.”

“That hard work really helped to make the Burbank program.”

Said Setaghian: “In between my sophomore and junior years, I don’t

think I took off my bathing suit, we played so much.”

“It was really hard playing all the time, but I know it paid off

for me and the other girls.”

The hard work has translated into a marked improvement for the

program the past three years. In 2002, the Bulldogs finished fifth in

league, and followed that up with a third-place finish last season --

the program’s first trip to the playoffs.

Setaghian said this past season’s second-place finish is rewarding

for her, and her teammates.

“Evelin deserves all the credit that is coming to her,” Abdou

said. “She has worked hard to get to where she’s at and she’s done so

much with so little over the years. It’s just incredible.”

“But the great thing is that not only has she done all these great

things, but she has done it with a smile on her face, and she has

done it with class.”

As much as Setaghian -- who said she could wind up at Cal State

Northridge or at a top community college program next season -- has

given to the program, she said she is grateful for what she has been

able to get out of playing water polo.

“I don’t know what I would have done without polo,” she said. “It

has meant so much to me.

“I am just grateful to my coaches and all of my teammates for what

they have given to me. I will miss them.”

And the Burbank players and coaches are going to miss Setaghian,

an athlete who helped put the Bulldog program on the map, and found

her own path to success in the process.