Diving into the first game of the season, the women’s Water Polo team faced a tough opponent, the Southlake Carroll Dragons at the RRISD Natatorium on Friday, Aug. 11. Both the Warriors and the Dragons made deep playoff runs the previous season with the Dragons finishing second at the state championship, but in the end, the Warriors lost 5-13.

This year brought 5 new players to the team, full of excitement for the upcoming season. Prior to the season opener, the team had already met for many scrimmages. Thus, as soon as the whistle blew, the players took off in the water, moving into their practiced formations. Facing a tough dragon offense , the Warriors strengthened their defenses and made necessary strategic adjustments.

“It was pretty nerve-racking beforehand,” returning player Abby Horsey ‘24 said. “It was a team that had a good history and we just started practice and we got a lot of new people but it went surprisingly well and I’m looking forward to what we can fix.”

Although the Dragons were putting points on the board, the Warriors did not fall far behind, with returning players Shraddha Chaudhari ‘25 and Katherine Mayer ‘25 scoring back-to-back goals during the second quarter. New player Sara Horsey ‘27 also delivered, scoring just 1 minute into the last quarter.

“This is my first year on this water polo team,” Sara Horsey said. “I’ve been playing for 5 years. I wanted to at least get one [goal] since they’re really good. I didn’t want it to be a shut out and I made it.”

With just 40 seconds left in the game, Abby Horsey flung the ball into the back of the goal, scoring the final point of the game and bringing the final score to 5-13. However, the team was not deterred by the loss and got together to cheer for each player’s performance during the game, and to discuss where they could further improve.

“I wasn’t super focused on the outcome,” Abby Horsey said. “I was focused on trying to I mentally prepared myself to not worry about the outcome and just played the best I could. I’m looking forward to having a good senior year.”

The Warriors will compete at their next tournament on Friday, Aug. 18, in Dallas.