Prep roundup: Los Banos boys water polo can’t keep pace with El Capitan’s depth

With 16 players on the roster, the El Capitan boys water polo team has no shortage of bodies.

It’s an advantage Gauchos coach Rodd Parker isn’t afraid to press, interchanging bodies at almost every stoppage of play and not losing much in intensity or swimming ability when he goes to the bench.

That edge looked particularly pronounced Tuesday evening against a Los Banos squad with a two-man bench. The Tigers didn’t even have that when all was said and done, with Logan Pires disqualified and Paul Reyes ejected. Led by the 1-2 punch of Evan Spiva and Steven Koenig, the Gauchos swam shorthanded Los Banos into the ground in the second half and pulled away for a 21-9 road victory.

The win improved El Capitan to 10-2 and extended its Western Athletic Conference victory streak to nine.

“I think our swimming ability was a big difference,” said Spiva, who had six goals, three assists and three steals. “We’re well-conditioned and we have a lot of bodies that we can put in the water.

“We’re supposed to outswim the other team if we know we have an advantage like that, and that’s what we did.”

The Gauchos got their WAC title defense off to a fast start, scoring on their first three shots and taking a 6-1 lead with a fast-paced transition game. Spiva and Koenig (six goals, two assists, three steals) set the tone, combining for the team’s first four goals.

Los Banos (0-1 WAC) weathered the initial El Cap storm and regrouped. Kyle Burke scored three of his team-high five goals from long distance to help the Tigers trim their deficit to 9-5 at the half.

“They’re not going to be in our league next year, and they go and participate in USA leagues that we don’t,” Reyes said. “We knew it was going to be a tough challenge. The bulk of our team are freshmen, so today was all about them getting experience for the next three years.

“They have a bunch of guys that can swim, and we just don’t have a lot of subs. It puts you in a position sometimes where you have to foul or you give up an easy goal. We did our best to slow them down, but obviously the fouls started to cost us.”

Reyes and El Cap goalkeeper Braiden Ward (four saves) became entangled while fighting for a ball in front of the Gauchos’ cage and both players were ejected. Pires joined Reyes early in the second half after receiving his third kick-out.

While Los Banos’ defensive approach slowed the El Cap counterattack at times, the Gauchos made them pay with a perfect effort in man-up situations to help put away the game.

“That’s something I’m pretty proud of,” Parker said. “We weren’t very good in man-up situations last year, and it’s something we’ve put a lot of work into. One hundred percent isn’t an attainable mark every game, but we were very efficient tonight.”

The El Capitan girls spread the ball as Hope Stokes, Alexandria Jasso and Metztli Enriquez each scored three times in a 13-4 WAC-opening victory over Los Banos.

Stokes did a little of everything, also leading the team with three steals and two assists. Amanda Wade made seven saves for the Gauchos (6-6).

Irene Duke paced the Tigers with two goals and an assist, and Kaitlin Downward had two assists.

Boys water polo

Merced 13, Pitman 8 at Merced – Sam Kuykendall and Alec Propes each scored four goals, and Abraham Santana had two goals, five assists and five steals to help the Bears improve to 12-1 overall and 3-0 in the Central California Conference.

Girls water polo

Golden Valley 9, Buhach Colony 2 in Atwater – Anna Neufeld scored five goals and assisted on two, and Grace Mello recorded nine steals as the Cougars improved to 11-6 and 3-0.

Volleyball

El Capitan 3, Livingston 0 in Merced – Ariana Johnson and McKenzie Webber each had six kills and Dayanna Torres had 19 assists as the Gauchos (10-0, 5-0 WAC) prevailed 25-13, 25-10, 25-6.

Le Grand 3, Denair 0 in Le Grand – Katie Farnsworth’s nine kills and nine digs paced the Bulldogs (4-3, 3-1 Southern League) in a 25-14, 25-16, 25-22 win.

Boys soccer

Pitman 6, Golden Valley 2 in Merced – Thomas Rowan and Alfredo Arroyo scored for the Cougars, who dropped to 1-2-3 in the CCC.

Le Grand 5, Denair 1 in Le Grand – Andres Lua scored two goals and assisted on another to lead the Bulldogs (3-1-1 SL). Le Grand goalie Julian Moreno stopped four shots.

Girls tennis

Golden Valley 5, Merced 4 at Merced – Chadue Lee, Kayla Parolini and Paola Perez won their singles matches to help the Cougars pick up their first CCC win.

Atwater 5, Buhach Colony 4 at Atwater – Catrina Velarde, Julie Dailey, Joanne Villegrana, Alyssa Gutierrez and Celeste Ornelas won their singles matches to help the Falcons pick up a win.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 1:25 PM with the headline "Prep roundup: Los Banos boys water polo can’t keep pace with El Capitan’s depth."