Girls prepare for thrilling day of finals

Published Wed 15 Jan 2020

Week one of the 2020 KAP7 Australian Youth Water Polo Championships is set to wrap up tomorrow, with the 14&U and 18&U girls ready to battle it out for Championships honours.

Adding to the festivities will be the Aussie Stingers and KAP7 Aussie Sharks international test match when the once again face off against USA in the second test matches of the series.

A full day of water polo will be live streamed on www.play.ovo.com.au from 8:00am (local time) with all the bronze and gold medal playoffs, leading into the double header test matches for the KAP7 Aussie Sharks and the Aussie Stingers.

18&U Girls bronze and gold medal games

Cross town rivals Sydney Uni Lions and Drummoyne will come up against each other in competition to crown the national champions.

The two teams have already met earlier in the competition with the close contest ending in a five all draw. Both teams will no doubt be using that match as vital intel when the again face off… this time with a gold medal on the line.

For Sydney Uni Lions, they have some fresh faces in the team, which could be the factor that turned their results around from the 2019 Australian Youth Water Polo Championships.

Sydney Uni Lions 18&U Girls

“It’s pretty amazing, there is a core group of us who are here from last year, but it’s a big improvement, we came ninth last year so to be in the gold medal match it is quite impressive for all of us,” said Grace Coleman.

“Tomorrow, we’re going to come here really early, have a good night’s sleep, a good brekky and get in the mind set…. We’ve got to make sure we’re all not in our heads too much and just playing the game of water polo,” said Coleman.

Hailing from the Central Coast and newcomer to the Lions outfit, Aspen Henderson said the team has been on the improve over the past five days.

“It’s been going great, we’ve been on the improve the whole time. Most of us are from the country, coming into Sydney, I think we’ve really gelled as a team,” said Henderson.

Drummoyne Devils 18&U Girls

The Drummoyne Devils delivered a strong win in their semi final against UNSW West Magpies and will be looking to carry that momentum into the gold medal playoff.

Devils Captain, Sienna Hearn, said her team had the goal of playing in the gold medal match but they knew it wasn’t going to be an easy path to get there.

“We always hoped… I wouldn’t say we definitely thought we would but it was absolutely our aim to get into the gold medal game match and hopefully win it,” said Hearn.

“It’s the best feeling, we just can’t wait to give it our all and go out there and hope for the best.

“We’ve really come together close as a team, all the young players and the old ones it’s been so much fun hanging out with each other every day,” she said.

Hearn know what they’ll be up against when they go head to head with the Lions again tomorrow, learning from the preliminary match.

“We just didn’t start out with a bang. They got ahead of us, I think three goals ahead of us in the start, and then we kept going one goal by goal… we eventually tied with them but we’re just going to come out firing tomorrow and see what the result is,” she said.

The bronze medal match will be a Sydney derby, with UNSW Wests Magpies set to face ACU Cronulla Sharks.

14&U Girls

The 14&U Girls will play their semi finals matches tomorrow, before deciding who will play off for the medals.

Melville Marlins will go head to head with Ovens and Murray, with the winner going straight through to the gold medal playoff.

Ovens and Murray entered the competition with the goal of finishing in the top 15 and have certainly exceeded their own goals, with some dominate performances in the preliminary rounds earning them a spot in the top four.