“I know a little about them,” Lopez said about taking over the girls’ team, “because last year toward the end of the season, I came in and helped out a little bit. Just like the boys, we lost that core group after last season.”
The girls lost a number of players to graduation, most notably Berit Kaesler, the reigning All-Area girls’ water polo Player of the Year.
Despite that fact, Lopez is looking to rebuild in both boys and girls.
“We have to start over anyway,” Lopez said. He will work on the boys’ team in the fall and girls’ team in the winter. “[On the boys’ team] we lost 12 seniors. We’re trying to get back to that same level we were at last year.”
However, the girls’ team returns a few key players, including star defensive and utility player Riley Kessler, defender Rita Neat and goalkeeper Mary Reardon, all of whom Lopez is excited to work with this season.
“I saw a little bit of [Reardon] this summer,” Lopez said. “She was playing really well. I saw her in our summer program, she was incredible. Rita Neat I think is going to have a good year this year too.”
Although Reardon was injured midway through the summer program, she bounced back quickly, impressing her coach.
“She came back from surgery and had 12 or 13 blocks,” Lopez said. “She kept us in the game against a very tough Glendale team.”
Though he’s worked with the team this summer, Lopez will hold his first official team meeting during the first week of school, when he hopes to get to know his players a little better.
This year will be challenging, Lopez noted, but he said he won’t know how things will turn out until they play those first few matches.
“I’ll know within the first couple of weeks how we’ll be,” Lopez said, “but from what I saw this summer, it seems like we got a lot of young, talented kids playing.”
