Pinole Valley High Water Polo Team’s Senior Night is right around the corner. This Thursday at Contra Costa College Pool the Spartans will be playing the Hercules Titans in their last league game before the league tournament next week. Both the boys and girls will be playing in some intense, must-watch matches. Make sure you don’t miss it! Pinole Valley boys will be playing at 6:00 and the girls will play at 7:00.

The boys have totaled up 3 wins and 2 losses so far. This game is going to be big because it determines if they will end the season with a positive win to loss ratio. Luckily they have beat the Hercules Titans in the past, which gives the team and fans more confidence. Team captains, Ryan Armstrong and Lestyn Park have led their team to many victories this year and don’t believe this game will be any different. Both are proud to be Pinole Valley Spartans but disappointed that this will be their last year on the team. Senior, Matthew Blizard is excited to end the season and is hoping that there will be a lot of people there to support the team. Blizard stateD, “With effort and teamwork we should be able to pull off a win against Hercules this Thursday. We have been grinding hard so hopefully we have what it takes.” All the seniors are looking forward to the game but are not excited to finish up with the season. They would be extremely grateful to have you there to support their final hurrah!

The girls have also had a really great season this year. They have the same record as Pinole, 3-2. Although the girls do not have any seniors on the team that will be leaving, they still will be playing this Thursday, for Senior Night, and will have a very exciting final league game. Last year during Senior Night the Spartan Girls barely clinched the win within the last 10 seconds of the game against the Titans. There is no doubt that this game will be just as exhilarating. Team captains Millie Hancock and Kayla Collins both have been great leaders for the team. Millie says that being team captain has challenging moments but overall is rewarding. She is proud of everything her team has accomplished and believes that they will be able to clinch another win this Thursday. Kayla hopes that not only will people come to support their team during senior night, but they will be interested in coming back next year and joining the team. Collins says, “Not a lot of people play or even know about water polo in our school, so the ones that do play are very special.”

It is very unfortunate that water polo is not as popular of a sport at Pinole Valley High School. The team has an enormous amount of potential and always has room for more players. The players are very encouraging and help the newer players and swimmers get better through constructive criticism and performing examples of ways to improve. Many members of the team join the swim team during the Spring to condition for water polo during the off-season. If you are interested in joining the team and being apart of all of the excitement, Jim Ulversoy, water polo and swim coach, would highly recommend that you join the swim team. It will increase your endurance and give you a lot more confidence in the water. If you do have any sort of interest you should come on Thursday and watch the game and maybe will see how fun it actually is!

Gallery • 5 Photos

Henry Clark lines up a shot against Jesse Bethel.