Queens of the chlorine: Arroyo Grande girls water polo looks to repeat as CIF Southern Section Champions

It’s Monday afternoon, two days before the Arroyo Grande girls water polo team begins its defense of a CIF Southern Section title. Led by 15-year head coach Steven Allen, the girls are in the midst of their first practice of the day.

It’s the light afternoon practice, though to an outsider it looks like anything but. There’s still plenty of sprinting, jostling, shooting and detailed direction from Allen as he leans on a diving board behind the goal. Five hours after the conclusion of this afternoon practice, the players — and a few assistant coaches — will jump in the pool again for a full-on, two-hour scrimmage. In a typical practice, the players swim up to a mile, sometimes never touching bottom.

The practice schedule is grueling. But the results are worth it, the players say.

When he took the job in 2004, Allen’s practice schedule helped establish one of the greatest high school sports dynasties on the Central Coast. Last week, Arroyo Grande captured its 13th straight PAC 8 league championship with a win over Righetti. It was the team’s 128th league win in a row, a streak that started in 2003 when a couple of players on the current team weren’t old enough to walk. It’s the second longest streak in CIF history.

Last season the team won its fourth CIF Southern Section Division 3 Championship since 2008. This season, Arroyo Grande enters the playoffs as the No. 1 seed and will begin the playoffs with a home match at 4 p.m. Wednesday against Sunny Hills.

Anything less than a CIF title would be a disappointment — and Arroyo Grande likes it that way.

What makes a dynasty?

When you look at historically great teams in professional and college sports — UCLA basketball in the 1960s and ’70s, the modern day New England Patriots, the budding dynasty of the Golden State Warriors — there are a few common themes: good and consistent coaching, top-notch facilities and great players. At Arroyo Grande, all the elements are there.

The league winning streak started in 2003, but Allen said a pivotal moment for the program was when the school built a pool on campus in 2007.

“Basically the whole program changed the moment we got a new pool,” Allen said. “We are able to get more practice time, and going 25 meters is completely different than the shorter pool other schools use. People come here and struggle with the size of the pool, but physically we are ready to do it.”

The pool, which is usually kept at a comfortable 79 degrees, allows for plenty of warmth and space for the team to practice year-round. Although Allen said the pool gives his team an advantage, the players said it’s the work the teams do in the pool that creates championships.

“It’s hard,” senior captain Arden Taylor said of the practice schedule. “A lot of mornings you wake up and you’re just like, ‘Ugh, I can’t.’ But it’s kind of something we are all used to also, and it’s expected. It’s not an option.”

Taylor, along with teammate and co-captain Kate Empey, know it’s expected because they have grown up in the program since seventh grade and have siblings who swam in the same pool. Taylor’s older sister, Caitlyn, was part of the streak, and Empey’s older brother, Jack, played for the boys team.

“We have always known the level of play that was expected and the commitment and the time and the dedication that goes into it,” Taylor said.

Allen said the players must commit to an intense practice environment to make up for time missed during a typical PAC 8 season.

“Our league schedule allows us to play our subs a lot,” Allen said. “There’s a good and bad part to that. The good part is: We have a lot of people getting developed. The bad part is: Not always is my starting group used to playing the whole game.”

Arroyo Grande outscored league opponents 100-13 this season, so the team tried to seek out the toughest competition it can find outside the Central Coast. Two weeks ago, Arroyo Grande played against Division I schools in a Southern California tournament. The slate included an 18-1 loss to Laguna Beach, the overall No. 1 ranked team in the state, and arguably the nation.

“We prepare the kids really well for games and tournaments, and we play a lot of high-level teams, and we get a lot of losses because of it. And we’re OK with that,” Allen said.

“The only way we are going to get better is by getting beat,” Taylor said. “Around here, the level of play is so much lower that we are not really improving on a daily basis, but playing those teams instantly improves us — by a lot. It’s a great opportunity, even though we get beat by so much.”

Sonny With A Chance Of Winning

It’s the final stretch of the first practice, and Arroyo Grande is working on five-on-six (power play) situations. Winning this battle will be a key for the Eagles moving forward, Allen said.

As one Arroyo Grande player reaches back for a shot, senior goalie Emily Sonny rises out of the water with powerful kicks and waves her arms, making herself look as big as possible. Finding a space to shoot on the 10-foot-wide goal is difficult because of her 6-foot-1 wingspan, a few inches more than her standing height of 5-foot-10.

“Centers turn, and all of a sudden you have a big, huge girl coming at you that’s ready to make things difficult,” Allen said of Sonny, who was also named the 2014 Tribune Co-Volleyball Player of the Year. “She is able to get to shots that other people can’t. She makes these freakish saves when she’s in a bad position, and she’s able to recover.”

Sonny, who committed to play goalie for Arizona State next season, has recorded 294 saves in 26 games with a save percentage above 75 percent. She is a favorite to win PAC 8 player of the year, and her impact stretches beyond games.

“The shooters have improved a lot, so hopefully I have helped with that,” Sonny said of her teammates. “It makes them aim for sharp corners, so even the best goalies we play against can’t get those specific shots.”

On offense, Sarah Parson has been Arroyo Grande’s go-to player in the middle. Parson has used her size and strength to rack up a team-leading 82 goals.

With players such as Sonny and Parson, it’s easy to see why Arroyo Grande has been winning. But it’s the back half of the 14-girl roster that makes the biggest difference compared with last season.

“We just have more people that can play at a high level,” said Empey, who is second on the team with 38 goals. “Yeah they are young, but they have shown a lot of improvement.”

Last season, Allen didn’t substitute in the CIF Southern Section finals for the first time in his career. Not this year.

“It’s pretty neat that we can sub in a Taylor York as a lefty and Paige Leonard, who is super fast,” Allen said. “Sometimes we might get better as we sub, and that’s a nice thing to have.”

Freshman Sam Vitt has even moved into the starting lineup and produced, scoring 13 goals and racking up 37 steals — good enough for third on the team.

Continued Tradition

With CIF implementing its competitive equity initiative in the fall, it will likely be the last time Arroyo Grande will chase a Division 3 title. Next year, Allen expects the team to move up to Division 2. Allen said his team is ready for the challenge of continuing the winning traditions at the next level.

“Even though I’m graduating this year, it gives me confidence that I’m leaving the program and it’s not going to disintegrate,” Taylor said.

“It has just compounded on itself,” Allen said of the program’s success. “Every year, the girls have just gotten better — the next team’s a little better. I keep thinking I’m going to have my best team, and I keep having a new best team every year. It’s cool.”

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Queens of the chlorine: Arroyo Grande girls water polo looks to repeat as CIF Southern Section Champions."