Tam Girls Water Polo Squad Has Its Eyes on the Prize

Off to an undefeated start that has featured a slew of blowout victories, a Tam High girls' water polo squad (6-0, 5-0 in Marin County Athletic League play) depleted by graduation is feeling its oats. But head coach Brandon Williams, knows the big tests are yet to come.

"We've had some lop-sided scores, which worries us a little bit," Williams said after his team's 24-1 win over Redwood this week. "We're obviously a bit worried about how we'll respond once we're in a close game, and we're going to be in one soon."

That close game could come as soon as the Red-tailed Hawks' next action in the pool, when it travels to Contra Costa College next weekend (Oct. 1-2) for the 16-team Contra Costa Invitational tournament that includes MCAL rival Drake, which is 3-1 in MCAL play.

"We might see them in the championship," Williams said.

But Williams knows that worrying about the impact of too many lop-sided wins is a nice problem to have. The team lost a number of key contributors from a 2009 squad that reached the MCAL finals and advanced to the second round of the North Coast Section tournament. On the heels of consecutive second place MCAL finishes, this team is on a mission to get over that final hump.

Led by two-way player Kristen Sato and goal-scoring machine Sami Harvey, the team has rolled to a 5-0 record in league play. The duo have things covered at both ends of the pool with Sato, a senior, playing goalie as well as some field play "if we're having a good game," Williams said. Harvey, a junior and a team captain along with Sato, has notched several high-scoring efforts already.

In Tam's 17-3 shellacking of San Marin last week, Harvey had a seven-goal game with four assists and four steals. Williams also credited standout junior Ali Coopersmith with filling some of the void left by departed seniors.

"She's had some big offensive games with seven-goal games and five-goal games," he said. "She's stepped up and played well offensively and defensively."

Harvey leads the team with 37 goals on the season, with Coopersmith second at 31 goals. Despite spending most of her time in goal, Sato has made the most of her field play with nine goals.

Williams said the experience of that trio and several others has helped keep up the pace from last year's team. 

"We're definitely relying on more of a team game this year," he said, noting a couple sophomores made this year's squad. "We're spreading the goals out more this year and looking for a good team defensive effort to be successful."

Williams said a good gauge for his unit's cohesiveness comes next month in the form of showdowns with three-time defending league champions Marin Catholic on Oct. 14 followed by Drake on Oct. 21.

"The Marin Catholic game is going to be our first really big test," he said. "We might see someone as tough as them at a tournament, but I'm pretty sure they'll be the toughest team we'll face."

Sami Harvey's mother, Schuyler Harvey, said she's been pleased to see the school's program develop over the past several years to become a force, year in and year out.

"The program has grown tremendously," she said. "Now a lot of players are going on to play in college. It's been fun to be a part of that growing process."

Williams said the the program's goal is to improve on its league standing every year.

"We were close to winning (the league championship) last year," he said. "If we can't beat MC this year, next year, hopefully, we're the best team in the league as we get ready for strong juniors who'll be seniors next year. But we have a strong team this year and we have a shot at it this year as well."