The Saline Reporter
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Top-10 Hornet water polo picks up victories
Hornets go 5-2 on week, lose nailbiter to No. 5 Okemos
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: April 19, 2007
The Saline girls' water polo team recently re-entered the state's top-10 rankings for the first time in two seasons.
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But that his No. 9 Hornets are in the rankings means much less to head coach Brad Silverman than that his team has continued to play like a team that deserves it.
"It's nice that we have the respect of coaches and officials," he said, "but they're pretty meaningless. Obviously, there's still a lot to be decided. We're going to need to play as well as we can from here on out."
A busy week for the Hornets started with a match away to Holt Wednesday April 11. Saline's early-season roll continued with a comfortable 10-4 win, improving their record to 8-1.
The Hornets then moved to 9-1 the very next evening with a 12-4 defeat of Chelsea, though Silverman was less than impressed after the game with the less-talented Bulldogs had been tied at halftime.
"We're happy with the win," he said, "but we were sloppy. I don't think we played with any fire."
On Saturday, the Hornets traveled to East Lansing for a Holt-hosted tournament and four matches, the first against West Ottawa. Although an improvement on their Chelsea performance, Saline fell to the Panthers 4-3 for their second loss of the season.
The Hornets then found the "fire" the coaching staff was looking for, taking out their frustrations on first-year program Grand Ledge, 18-2.
Next up was state power Okemos. After taking a surprising two-goal lead at halftime, the Hornets fought bitterly and trailed by only a single goal until a last-second Okemos score pushed the final to 7-5.
Despite the loss, assistant coach Chalmers McGillivray (filling in for the absent Silverman) said that the team's outstanding effort against the No. 5 Chiefs was another big step in the right direction.
"That was a one-goal game. What we learned was that we can compete with the best teams in the state," he said. "It was the best I have ever seen this team play."
McGillivray credited the team's two captains, seniors Ashley Mulder and Emily Vizza, for their excellent performance on offense and goalies Sammy Haller and Sam Crichton for their work in the Saline net.
In the final game of the day, the Hornets avoided a letdown following the emotional Okemos match, defeating Holt again, this time by a score of 10-5. Mulder was the difference down the stretch according to McGillivray, who said she "took control" and refused to let Saline's day end on a down note.
Saline then wrapped up their seven-games-in-five-days stretch with an easy 17-3 win over Ypsilanti. The Hornets led 7-1 after one and 11-1 at the half. Lindesy DeHaan and Anne-Marie Giardina scored four goals each while Mulder, Kassia Zalewski, Laura Kuzma, and starting goalie Sammy Haller scored two apiece and Alyssa Hart added one.
The Saline JV also defeated Ypsilanti Monday, winning 13-3. Crichton and Alli Littlejohn scored three goals each, followed by Lexi Debol and Zalewski with two and Gabby Thornton, Kuzma, and Brittney White with one.
Staff Writer Jerry Hinnen can be reached at 429-7380 or at jhinnen@heritage.com.
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