MVHS girls water polo head coach Chris Love gathered the girls before the game for their usual team talk, followed by a chant led by one of the captains before the start of the game. Only few minutes into the game, a series of shouting and complaints arose from both coaches, as well as the SCHS crowd. The atmosphere was intense, but some crowd members could be seen chuckling in response to the shouting.

After losing their previous game to Santa Clara HS, the MVHS girls water polo team went into their game on Oct. 9 with the hope of redeeming themselves, according to senior and captain Anika Cheerla. After going to double overtime this game, MVHS lost the game, falling short SCHS with the final score of 15-17.

The pace of the game started off quickly as SCHS scored a point within the first 20 seconds of the game. After,MVHS attempted to score shortly after but another failed shot quickly brings the ball back to SCHS.

Throughout the first period, sophomore Christy Feng kept up a strong defense midpool, in order to block and assist her team, allowing MVHS to quickly tie the score 1-1. Soon after, SCHS scored yet another point from a long shot making the score 1-2. This score stair-casing contributed to the prolonged ending of the game.

After halftime, the period started off with another score from SCHS making the score 5-8. MVHS trailed closely behind as junior Ashley Tom scored another goal and brought up the score 6-8.

Towards the end of the third period, Love as well as the SCHS coach started to make remarks to the referees regarding certain calls on plays. According to Feng, an inappropriate comment from a referee also contributed to the intensity of the game.

“They do not know what they are doing,” Feng said. “One even told the Santa Clara coach to stop being a female and sit down, it was crazy. The other coach even wrote it down to report it so the drama sort of played with our heads.”

However, Cheerla says that Love reassures the players of their role and his own.

“[Love] normally tells us that that’s something that he’s gonna deal with,” Cheerla said. “So we just trust in him.”

At the end of third period, Feng made another pass to junior Ashley Tom, leading to a point for MVHS and bringing up the score 9-10 after rapid scoring from both teams.

The fourth period continued the arguments between coaches, players, crowd members and the referees. A member from the SCHS crowd was ejected after yelling inappropriate remarks at the referees. The period ended in a tie after MVHS made a last-minute goal bringing up the score 14-14, the two teams went into overtime when SCHS made a quick score, but it was soon followed by another score made my Feng, equaling the score yet again. After a second overtime, the SCHS team gained two consecutive goals, winning  the game with a final score of 15-17.