Daily Pilot Girls’ Water Polo Dream Team: Ryan Chalupnik played big for Newport Harbor
Ryan Chalupnik was not a focus for the Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo team when the Sailors won the CIF Southern Section Open Division title in 2022.
She still not only got in the water as a sophomore, but scored a fourth-quarter goal in the title-match win over Laguna Beach.
“That was a great moment,” she said.
Coming back for her final two years, Chalupnik immediately became the starting center, the player that opponents tried to shut down.
The Sailors (19-10) couldn’t quite get back to the Open Division title match, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. They pushed eventual champion Orange Lutheran in the semifinals this year before falling 7-6; the Lancers would go on to an undefeated season.
Meanwhile, Newport Harbor suffered seven one-goal losses. Yet, every time, Chalupnik led the team back to work.
For her efforts, she is the 2023-24 Daily Pilot Dream Team Player of the Year.
Newport Harbor still shared the Surf League title with Laguna Beach this season, with Chalupnik earning co-league MVP honors and All-CIF accolades. The Sailors finished fifth at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, the highest of any local team.
On a team that had contributions from every grade level, including three freshmen, the UCLA-bound Chalupnik’s work ethic helped set the tone.
“Coming into this season, all of us seniors knew we had to be on top of our game at practice and stuff just to show everyone else,” she said. “At Newport, we don’t practice lazy. We don’t practice careless. We practice for a reason, and we want to try to make it as much of a competitive environment as we possibly can.”
Chalupnik, who helped the Sailors win their first Tournament of Champions title in program history as a junior, said she started playing for Newport when she was 9 years old. She stands just 5-foot-2 — small for a center — but her savvy game and quickness helped her. This year, she was able to form a very effective duo with freshman center Gabby Alexson, who would spell her off the bench.
“She just always showed up to play,” Sailors coach Ross Sinclair said. “I never worried with her. She was always excited to compete, excited to play, and that was really important for us this year and last year.
“Traditionally, centers are a little bigger stature. But look, she does a really good job of picking her positions, holding position well. She’s really quick and explosive, and that’s something that makes it difficult for center defenders to defend her.”
Chalupnik is excited to head to Westwood next year, as she said UCLA has always been her dream school. She’ll reunite there with former Sailors teammates Taylor Smith and Lily Gess.
She remains, however, very appreciative of the program that made her the player she is today.
“I played on the same team with the same girls my whole life, and that’s something that’s so special to me,” Chalupnik said. “We were all able to grow together.”
Here’s a look at the Coach of the Year, first-team and second-team Dream Team selections:
COACH OF THE YEAR
Marc Hunt
Corona del Mar
Hunt was hired in early November and took over a young team that graduated nine seniors and featured just three varsity returners. But despite having just one senior field player in Ava Schoening, the longtime UC Irvine men’s water polo and Back Bay club coach guided the Sea Queens into another successful season, culminating in the program’s second CIF Southern Section Division 1 title in three seasons. The future seems bright too, as a return to the Open Division could be in the cards for next year.
FIRST TEAM
Ava Knepper
ATT | Laguna Beach | Sr.
Knepper is a gifted offensive player who was a senior leader for a Laguna Beach team that welcomed coach Katie Teets, its third coach in three years. Sharing the league MVP honor with Chalupnik, she helped the Breakers (16-12) earn a share of the Surf League title and advance to the Open Division playoffs, where Laguna fell at Mater Dei in the quarterfinals. Knepper scored a team-best 101 goals and was second on the squad with 39 steals. A three-time Dream Team selection and All-CIF pick, she’s bound for USC.
Reagan Weir
2M | Corona del Mar| Jr.
Weir has been on varsity since her freshman year for the Sea Queens and grown into one of the top centers in the Southern Section. She earned Division 1 Player of the Year honors after helping CdM (20-12) earn her second ring, and she was also her team’s lone first-team All-Surf League selection, also earning Irvine Southern California Championships all-tournament team accolades. Her competitive nature was key for a proud squad which lost just once this season to a lower-ranked team.
Harper Price
UTIL | Newport Harbor | Jr.
Price did a lot of the little things to make the Sailors successful. Coach Ross Sinclair called her the ultimate utility player for his team, able to excel at both center defender and perimeter defender positions. She also has a strong shot. Price earned first-team All-Surf League and All-CIF Open Division honors.
Madison Emerson
DEF | Edison | Jr.
A strong defensive presence with a strong outside shot, Emerson excelled for the Chargers and first-year coach Jarrett Tossey. She shared Wave League MVP honors after helping Edison earn a share of the title with Huntington Beach, and also earned first-team Al-CIF accolades and was a Irvine Southern California Championships all-tournament team selection. Emerson and the Chargers (21-10) advanced to the Division 2 quarterfinals, nearly upsetting No. 2-seeded eventual champion Alta Loma on the road before succumbing, 10-9.
Marley Garwick
DEF | Huntington Beach | Sr.
Garwick excelled at center defense for the Oilers, and is taking her talents to a top 10 program in Fresno State next year. A good leader in and out of the water as a team captain, she helped Huntington Beach (11-13) earn a share of the Wave League title and advance to the Division 1 playoffs, where the Oilers fell at Murrieta Valley in the first round.
Addie Juelfs
ATT | Costa Mesa | Sr.
Juelfs kept racking up the accolades as a senior. A three-time first-team Dream Team selection and three-time Orange Coast League MVP, she helped the Mustangs (11-7) earn another league title and advance to the second round of the Division 3 playoffs before losing to eventual champion Corona Centennial. She had a standout game against rival Estancia, with 10 goals and eight assists.
Kara Carver
ATT | Laguna Beach| Jr.
Carver grew a lot as a junior and was probably one of the most exciting players to watch due to her counterattack ability, shooting and athletic defense. The youngest of a trio of water polo playing siblings that includes older sisters Rachael and Hannah, now at Princeton and USC respectively, Kara was second on the Breakers with 80 goals and 47 assists, and led the team with 49 steals. She was first-team All-Surf League and earned all-tournament team honors at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.
Lydia Soderberg
GK | Newport Harbor| Jr.
Soderberg definitely had big shoes to fill as the replacement for graduate Anna Reed, a four-year starter and last year’s Dream Team Player of the Year. She held her own, coming up with some big blocks along the way. She nearly shut out champion Orange Lutheran for the entire first half of the CIF State Southern California Regional Division I semifinals, before the Lancers earned a 9-1 victory. Soderberg was a second-team All-Surf League selection.
SECOND TEAM
Position, Name, School, Year
ATT Ava Schoening, Corona del Mar, Sr.
ATT Sofia Del Villar, Newport Harbor, Sr.
ATT Presley Jones, Laguna Beach, Jr.
2M Jessica Jang, Fountain Valley, Sr.
ATT Didi Evans, Corona del Mar, Jr.
2M Gabby Alexson, Newport Harbor, Fr.
ATT Kenzy Ackert, Marina, Jr.
ATT Justine Chomchavalit, Edison, Sr.
GK Siena Jumani, Laguna Beach, Jr.
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