TOHS, Newbury Park girls' water polo teams on the postseason path
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

With the end of the regular season rapidly approaching, the Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park girls' water polo teams will now turn their focus toward the playoffs.

With a Marmonte League record of 8-3 (19-8 overall), the Lancers are in third place behind Agoura and Royal. Newbury Park's 5-6 league record (16-11 overall) puts the Panthers in fourth place. The top four teams from the Marmonte League make the playoffs.

Although TOHS is in third place, the Lancers are no slouch. Like Royal, Thousand Oaks spent a portion of the season ranked in the CIFSouthern Section Division II coaches' poll. Agoura was ranked sixth in the latest poll.

"Lately, everyone on our team has been contributing," Thousand Oaks head coach Mike Giles said. "Our defense, led by Dusty Holmes and our goalkeeper Kristine Kilgore, has been pretty solid.

"We need to improve our counter attacks and our scoring, but overall I like the direction our team is going in."

The Lancer offense is led by four-year starter Whitney Delgado, one of the county's premier athletes.

"Whitney is a very consistent player," Giles said. "Everybody knows who she is when they play us. She gets double-teamed a lot, but she's been able to flip the ball out to her teammates very well and get everyone involved."

Lancers that have assisted Delgado on offense include senior Kaitlyn Potter and sophomore Lauren Barnett.

Newbury Park, under the guidance of first-year head coach Dave Gleisberg, will also make the playoffs. With a win over Moorpark High today, the Panthers can finish at .500 in the Marmonte League.

Leading the way for NPHS has been Carlee McKee. Other key contributors include seniors Jessica Wall and Dana Berlin, as well as sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Dowd.

"I've been impressed with our defense lately," Gleisberg said. "The team is communicating well and helps each other out.

"What we need to improve on is our offense. Sometimes we tend to rush a little bit on the offensive end. We need to take our time and recognize a good shot when we see one. Overall, we're doing a good job, but we need to be a little more patient."

Gleisberg said he's also been impressed with the Panthers' team chemistry.

"The girls like playing together, and they hang out with each other outside of games," Gleisberg said. "There's a very good unity on this team."

Playoff pairings will be announced Sunday.