Team finishes impressive regular season
By Hector Trujillo
The Scripps Ranch High School womens water polo team wrapped up an astonishing regular season with a 15-6 record which served as a bounce back from the 2024-2025 season when the Lady Falcons finished 4-14. The team defeated Hilltop High 14-0 in the Quarterfinals on Feb. 13. The third-seeded SRHS womens water polo team will take on second-seeded Olympian High on Monday, Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m. at the Coggan Family Aquatic Complex, 800 Nautilus St., in the semifinals of the 2026 San Diego Section Girls Water Polo Championships Division 3.
“The turnaround from last year has been fantastic,” said head coach Brad Oestreich. “This team, as a whole, has remained united and able to overcome obstacles by doing whatever is needed to succeed.”
Among those obstacles that the Lady Falcons had to overcome was a flu bug that impacted several players in the next to last week of the season.
Scripps Ranch started the season strong by winning three of its first four games over Mount Miguel High, Valley Center High and Canyon Crest Academy by a combined scoreline of 49 to 6 with the only loss during that span coming on a 4-2 road loss to Poway High.
After suffering another two-goal defeat on Dec. 6 to Rancho Buena Vista High, the Lady Falcons went on an eight-game winning streak which included a 19-2 blowout victory over Mira Mesa High on Jan. 20 and back-to-back 17-7 wins against Canyon Hills High and Mount Miguel High.
“Everyone plays with so much energy and is willing to pitch in to serve the team,” Oestreich said.
The winniing streak came to an abrupt end on Jan. 24 in tournament play versus Troy High by a score of 8-6 with Scripps Ranch High proceeding to lose the next two matches as well by a score of 12-4 to Mater Dei High and 9-3 to Academy of Our Lady of Peace.
Scripps Ranch High has eight seniors this season. all of whom have made standout contributions throughout the season including those of Tara Kamath and Lilly Eigen along with notable efforts by freshman Hope Dummer and sophomore Phoebe Dummer.
The Lady Falcons finished the regular season by winning four of the last five matches. The team earned victories over Canyon Hills High, University City High, Point Loma High and a 13-3 drubbing of Mira Mesa High in the regular season finale, with the only defeat coming in the rematch against Academy of Our Lady of Peace on Feb. 4.
“It also helps when you have a junior varsity team that is winning when facing adversity because you can rely on some of those players to help with any obstacles the team has to deal with,” Oestreich said. “We’ve had some close losses, but the team has managed to remain super tight.”