The high school girls water polo season has faced off, and the Granite Hills High School team appears to be floating toward the top.
Granite Hills swept last weekend’s set of four Varsity Eagles Challenge series games at its home pool to maintain its top ranking among the San Diego Section’s Division II teams, while Grossmont Valley League rival El Capitan High School entered this week ranked third.
Granite Hills swept last wekened’s the mini tournament by defeating Francis Parker (13- 1) on Friday and adding wins against Otay Ranch (8-1), Santana (9-2) and Point Loma (4-3) on Saturday.
Last Saturday’s trio of games was obviously taxing on the team with start times at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. amid unseasonably warm temperatures.
The four wins raised Granite Hills’s record to 13-4-1 on the season in the midst of a seven-game winning streak.
“It’s been going well,” second-year Granite Hills head coach Page Small explained. “It’s a growing process. We’ve seen some ups and downs. We’ve been battling illness more than anything. When you have a starter out, it makes a difference.
“I really have to hand it to the girls. Every time they’ve been asked to rise to the occasion, they’ve done it. It was tough with three games in a window of six hours. That was a lot to ask.”
This year’s Granite Hills team is braced by a pair of returning All-Americans: seniors Nia Payne and Audrey Laskey. Freshman Chole Morgan is the team’s impact newcomer.
Morgan and Laskey both scored two goals in the win over Point Loma. While Payne, playing in goal, helped hold off a late rally by the Pointers.
Besides jockeying for position in the division rankings, Granite Hills and El Capitan are also battling for a league championship this season.
Both teams improved to 3-0 in league play after defeating opponents on Jan. 15. Granite Hills defeated Mount Miguel, 14-2, while El Capitan (8-1 overall) edged Steele Canyon, 11-10.
“The last time we won a league championship was in 2012, we obviously want to repeat,” Small said. “We’d like to go undefeated in league. The team closest to us is El Capitan. We have two games with them the last two weeks of the season. It’s going to come down to the wire for us.”
It also many come down to the wire for both teams when the San Diego Section playoffs make a splash in February.
“Our second goal is to qualify for CIF,” Small said. “Granite Hills has never won a girls water polo championship. We’ve been trending that way so far. It would be a coup if we could get that. I think we have the opportunity to do it if everything goes right for us.
“My goal as a coach is to play our best water polo at the end of the season.”
