Daily Pilot Girls’ Water Polo Dream Team: Morgan Netherton helped Newport Harbor reach new heights
Morgan Netherton probably could not have envisioned a better senior season than this.
What a way to cap a four-year varsity high school career.
Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo won the Surf League title before going on to capture the CIF Southern Section Open Division and CIF Southern California Regional Division I titles. The Sailors were the top team wire to wire, finishing the season 29-1.
In the middle of it all was the versatile Netherton, a deadly shooter, gifted passer and tenacious competitor rolled into one.
After helping Newport Harbor win its first CIF title in a decade, Netherton is the Daily Pilot Girls’ Water Polo Dream Team 2021-22 Player of the Year.
“Coming into the season, we didn’t want to let other people’s expectations or thoughts about how the season should go affect our ability to play,” she said. “Our whole theme was getting better and focusing on ourselves ... staying present. Because we had so much talent, we had to work on putting it together so we could go out and perform. It’s easy to play when you’re an underdog, but when you have a target on your back, you’re going to get every team’s best. Teams aren’t going to fall asleep on you.”
No one slept on the ability of Netherton, bound for USC, and the Sailors. They finished second at last year’s USA Water Polo Junior Olympics competing as Newport Beach Water Polo, nearly unheard of for a high school team.
As for Netherton’s individual talents, coach Ross Sinclair obviously trusted her, as she continued one of her roles of taking penalty shots throughout the season. She was the co-Surf League MVP and Open Division Player of the Year with senior teammate Taylor Smith.
“She could post up, make the entry pass, defend,” Sinclair said. “Yeah, all four years she’s been amazing. This year in particular, she was awesome. Generally, if the ball’s in her hands, the right decision is always made. We set each other up really well, and she’s a big factor in that.”
Netherton is also set up for collegiate play herself at USC, the same school where her father Drew played men’s water polo. Drew Netherton was an All-American for the Trojans in his senior year, 1994-95, before playing four years with the U.S. senior national team, and Morgan’s mother Laureen was a fourth-generation Trojan in her family.
Drew also coached the uber-talented Newport Harbor senior class when they were 14-and-unders, before they got into high school. Once Morgan got into high school, he was able to watch proudly from the sidelines.
Before leaving for the Trojans, Morgan Netherton said she plans to play for Newport again this summer — a change from the normal trend of Newport Harbor graduates playing on all-star clubs before heading off to college.
“I haven’t played for another club, and I don’t want to,” said Netherton, who picked Newport Harbor over Mater Dei when entering high school. “Newport’s my home, so I’m glad that [Sinclair] is letting us stay around for one last run together.”
Here’s a look at the Daily Pilot Girls’ Water Polo Coach of the Year, as well as first-team and second-team Dream Team selections:
COACH OF THE YEAR
Melissa Seidemann
Corona del Mar
There were plenty of strong candidates for this award. Sinclair became the first coach to win boys’ and girls’ water polo CIF titles in the top division in the same school year, and Edison coach Nick Graffis led the Chargers to their first CIF final. But Seidemann, a second-year coach and three-time Olympic gold medalist, gets the nod here for helping CdM back to prominence just two years after missing the CIF Southern Section playoffs. CdM played in arguably the best league in the country, the Surf League, and Seidemann made sure the Sea Kings competed despite a winless campaign. Once CdM got to the postseason — a place none of its players had ever played before — she made sure her team rose to the occasion. The Sea Kings were unseeded in Division 1 but won the title with a dramatic 8-7 victory over top-seeded Agoura. It was CdM’s first CIF championship since 2013.
FIRST TEAM
Bia Mantellato
2M | Newport Harbor | Sr.
The foreign exchange student from Brazil helped the Sailors make a nice exchange. After senior center Olivia Giolas graduated and headed to USC, Newport Harbor plugged in Mantellato at two meters. She adjusted to California high school water polo well and made a big difference, routinely scoring four or five goals in the Sailors’ biggest matches and providing dynamic all-around play. Mantellato, a first-team All-Surf League and first-team All-CIF Southern Section Open Division selection, is headed for the University of Hawaii.
Claire Eusey
ATT | Corona del Mar| Sr.
Eusey spearheaded the Sea Kings’ run to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title. CdM did not have team captains, but Eusey, bound for Brown University, continuously stepped up, in and out of the pool. She scored five goals in the Division 1 semifinal against Studio City Harvard-Westlake, and added a goal in the final victory over Agoura as CdM (19-14) knocked off the top two seeds. Eusey, a first-team All-Surf League selection and the Division 1 Player of the Year, finished with a team-best 57 goals, and her 34 assists also tied her for the CdM team lead.
Ava Houlahan
ATT | Laguna Beach | Sr.
The Breakers returned no starting field players this year, but Houlahan was the one with the most previous experience and she stepped into a leadership role right away. She scored the winning goal as Laguna Beach edged Newport Harbor 10-9 to win its eighth straight Bill Barnett Holiday Cup title, which ended up being the Sailors’ only loss of the season. The well-rounded Houlahan, bound for Princeton, led Laguna with 73 goals, 49 assists and 76 steals. She was a first-team All-Surf League and first-team All-CIF Southern Section Open Division selection and helped the Breakers (27-7) make both the Open Division and SoCal Regional Division I title matches.
Lilyanna Larson
UTIL | Edison | Sr.
Larson led area players with 133 goals this season, and the four-year varsity player led the Chargers to a historic season that saw a new on-campus pool open toward the end of it. Edison (16-14) earned a share of the Wave League title, its first league crown since 2002, and advanced to a CIF title match for the first time in program history before falling to top-seeded Yucaipa in the Division 2 final. Edison also made its first CIF Southern California Regional playoffs appearance. Larson was lethal on the counterattack on passes from senior goalkeeper Madie Ambrose. She was a first-team All-Wave League and All-CIF player and is bound for Loyola Marymount.
Gaby Zaretskiy
2M | Huntington Beach | Sr.
Zaretskiy, bound for Loyola Marymount, helped the Oilers carry on a tradition of winning the Wave League title. It wasn’t easy, but Zaretskiy scored the game-winning goal as Huntington Beach beat Edison 7-6 in overtime in the teams’ second league meeting to earn a shared title. Huntington Beach (13-11) qualified for the Division 1 playoffs before falling to Santa Barbara in the first round. Zaretskiy, a four-year varsity player, closed out her standout prep career by earning co-Wave League MVP honors.
Addie Juelfs
ATT | Costa Mesa | Soph.
The sophomore turned into a volume goal scorer for the young Mustangs, with 111 on the season. She possibly could have challenged Kira Anderson’s single-season school record of 126 goals, if Costa Mesa (16-10) didn’t have a few games cancelled due to COVID-19 issues. Coach Dustin Serrano said that Juelfs, the Orange Coast League MVP for the league champion Mustangs, was able to read the goalie well and push the action on the counterattack. She scored the winning goal as Mesa edged Aliso Niguel 7-6 in the first round of the Division 3 playoffs, avenging two losses to the Wolverines earlier in the season.
Taylor Smith
ATT | Newport Harbor | Sr.
A four-year varsity starter headed to UCLA, Smith showcased one of the top all-around skill sets in Southern California. Sinclair said in one-on-one situations away from the ball, he considered her to be possibly the most dynamic player in high school, constantly driving and drawing double teams. Smith capped off another standout season, sharing the Surf League MVP and All-CIF Southern Section Open Division Player of the Year honors with her teammate Netherton. Smith heads to the Bruins with teammate Lily Gess, a standout defender.
Ava Knepper
ATT | Laguna Beach | Soph.
Knepper was fun to watch because she was one of the most talented shooters in CIF, even as a sophomore. She could catch fire, like when she scored six goals in the first half alone of the Newport Invitational third-place match against Orange Lutheran. Knepper was the youngest player to earn a spot on the U.S. senior women’s national team for the FINA Intercontinental Cup earlier this month in Peru, a team she made along with Netherton and Smith. She was second-team All-Surf League and second on Laguna Beach with 72 goals this season, adding 31 assists and 37 steals.
Anna Reed
GK | Newport Harbor | Jr.
Reed, who has been starting since she was a freshman, elevated her play late in the season when the Sailors needed it most. The defense tightened the screws in some of the biggest moments, allowing less than six goals per game in the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs and blanking Laguna Beach for nearly the whole contest in the CIF Southern California Regional Division I title match. Reed was a big part of that, with Sinclair saying her play was collegiate-level. She was a first-team All-Surf League selection.
SECOND TEAM
Position, Name, School, Year
DEF Lily Gess, Newport Harbor, Sr.
2M Charlotte Riches, Laguna Beach, Jr.
GK Madie Ambrose, Edison, Sr.
2M Mia Bernhoit, Corona del Mar, Sr.
ATT Lana Kardos, Marina, Sr.
ATT Avery Montiel, Newport Harbor, Jr.
ATT Jericho Callender, Huntington Beach, Sr.
ATT Lily Worley, Edison, Sr.
GK Lauren Schneider, Laguna Beach, Jr.
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