From the beginning of the season, Sage Hill’s water polo team, practicing for hours every week, has been confident in what the season had in store for them.

The group has a completely different vibe than most high school water polo teams, a part of that being two girls—junior Rachel Jaffe and sophomore Paige Solaas—who are on a “boys’” team.

“It’s definitely a different team dynamic,” Jaffe explained. “It’s hard fitting in with the guys because we support each other in different ways, but they still respect me.”

“They are good players, so they fit in well with the team,” junior Alex Ree assured. “I don’t even notice the difference.”

Not only are there girls, but there are also a lot of brothers working together on the team including senior Zachary Drobenko and his little brother Zane, a freshman.

“It’s fun [playing with him] because it’s the first time we’ve worked together and it’s even more fun when we both play offense,” Zane said.

During the Costa Mesa J.V. Tournament, the first tournament this season, the team was missing the majority of the varsity team because of SAT and ACT testing.  That left the perfect opportunity for the J.V. team to prove themselves to their peers.

Miles Wilson, a freshman fairly new to the sport, said during the tournament “we were very tired because of our lack of players, but we were able to play extremely well considering the circumstances.”

For the first time in four years, the team competed in CIF playoffs winning their wildcard game against Alhambra High School 14-2, but losing in the first round.