O.C. players help SET 18U girls win USA Water Polo Junior Olympics gold
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IRVINE — Corona del Mar High graduates Didi Evans and Reagan Weir weren’t quite sure where to go after the high school girls’ water polo season ended last winter.
The club season before college, with Evans headed to Princeton and Weir bound for Stanford, amounted to a free agent period. But the young women soon found their destination in the Saddleback-El Toro Water Polo Club and coach Ethan Damato.
“SET welcomed us with open arms,” Evans said. “Immediately, I felt like part of the team. There was no transition period. We just really, really blended with them. It was like we had been playing together for years.”
The result was a gold medal, SET’s third straight in the 18-and-under division. SET Black beat Regency 8-5 in the title match Sunday at Woollett Aquatics Center.
Evans had a goal and three assists in the final, while Weir also scored.
Laguna Beach graduates Siena Jumani and Kara Carver, as well as incoming Breakers senior Brooke Schneider, also contributed for SET. Carver, bound for USC, capped her junior club career by earning her eighth Junior Olympics gold medal.
“It’s just an incredible experience,” she said. “This team is like no other, and I just loved being a part of it. It was really nice to have this be our last game and our last club experience before college, and going out on a win.”
Jumani, a goalkeeper bound for UC Santa Barbara, made six saves in the first half of the title match before Clarysa Sirls played goalie in the second half. She also helped the Breakers win the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title in February.
“It’s like the perfect ending for everything,” Jumani said. “We’ve just had fun throughout all of it.”
Christina Flynn scored three goals in the final and earned MVP honors for SET, coached by Damato, the former longtime Laguna Beach coach who recently was hired to guide the JSerra girls’ water polo team.
SET had lost to top-seeded SOCAL in group play on Friday, but beat SOCAL 10-9 in the 18U semifinals earlier Sunday. Weir scored the equalizing goal, then Evans netted the game-winning counterattack goal after stealing the ball up top, helping SET beat SOCAL for the first time in four meetings this year.
“I saw the opportunity and I took it,” said Evans, who could say the same about joining SET for the title run.
CdM girls win Classic Division
The Corona del Mar 18U girls finished with gold in the Classic Bracket on Sunday, beating San Clemente 12-5 for the title at Yorba Linda High.
CdM went a perfect 7-0 in the tournament, including an 18-10 semifinal win over North Irvine Black.
