Costa Mesa girls’ water polo looks like a CIF contender
The Costa Mesa High boys’ water polo team is known for a “decade of dominance,” winning four CIF Southern Section titles from 1986 through 1995.
Girls’ water polo took off as a sport soon after, yet the Mustangs have never really tasted postseason glory. Costa Mesa girls’ water polo has never advanced to a CIF Southern Section title match, partially because the Mustangs were stuck in Division 1 for years as Laguna Beach dominated the Orange Coast League.
Costa Mesa aims to change that this season. The Mustangs (15-3) are the top-ranked team in the Division 5 poll.
On Jan. 11 they captured the Gold Division of the Diamond Bar Lady Brahmas Winter Classic with a 13-9 win over West Torrance in the championship game. Freshman Kira Anderson scored three times in the final and earned tournament MVP honors.
West Torrance came into the tournament ranked No. 2 in Division 5. Whittier California, which came into the tournament top-ranked in Division 5, ended up fifth in the Gold Division.
Costa Mesa jumped from No. 4 to No. 1 in Division 5 after winning the tournament.
“We realized we have a chance to go really far this year and do better than we have in years past,” said Costa Mesa senior attacker Sey Currie, one of two team captains, along with junior attacker Hanna Jackson. “We can possibly be one of the best sports teams on campus.”
The Costa Mesa High girls’ water polo team briefly ran into some adversity in the Battle for the Bell rivalry match at Estancia on Wednesday afternoon.
Costa Mesa won its first league title since 2004 last year. The Mustangs graduated leading scorer Sofia Rice, but Anderson, who has a team-best 80 goals this year, has stepped up to the challenge as a freshman. She’s also a talented runner who helped Costa Mesa girls’ cross-country win the league title this fall.
Costa Mesa coach Dustin Serrano, who coaches at his alma mater with his twin brother, Cody, said he’s coached Anderson in water polo since she was 10 years old, through Costa Mesa Aquatics Club.
Concordia University-committed senior center Taiuta Uiagalelei and junior defender Michelle Kiefer are other key returning players for Costa Mesa, while freshman Dharma Andres and senior Malia Tufuga split time at goalkeeper.
Tufuga is a Stanford commit for volleyball and is in her second year playing water polo, though last year she was a field player. Serrano said she contributes the competitive spirit of a volleyball player, which may be rubbing off on her teammates.
“They really do have something special,” Serrano said. “It’s a lot more about the team than ‘I’ this year, which is really great.”
Costa Mesa plays in the Ocean View tournament beginning Friday. The Mustangs are 2-0 in the Orange Coast League and favorites to run the table, with home matches on Jan. 30 against Orange and Feb. 6 against Estancia still to come.
In the postseason, the Mustangs will try to make history.
“[Winning the Diamond Bar tournament] was a really big confidence boost for our team,” Jackson said. “We went into that tournament thinking we could win, but it kind of showed us that we can pull it together as a team.”
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