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Scouting DuPage County girls water polo

Top teams: Naperville Central, Naperville North, Metea Valley, Neuqua Valley.

Top games: Naperville Area Quint, March 11-12; Red Devil Invite, March 12; Naperville Central Invitational, March 18-19; Hinsdale South at Bremen Invitational, March 18-19; Waubonsie Valley at Whitney Young Invite, March 19; Naperville North at Naperville Central, March 22; Hinsdale South at Riverside-Brookfield, March 23; York at Hinsdale Central, March 23; Naperville Central at Neuqua Valley, April 5; Naperville North at Fenwick, April 7; Hinsdale Central at Bremen, April 12; York at Naperville Central, April 14; York hosts York Invite, April 16; Neuqua Valley at Palatine Tournament, April 15-16; Naperville Central at Fenwick, April 21; St. Charles East at Hinsdale Central, May 4; Naperville Central at Stevenson Tournament, May 7; Hinsdale Central at Lyons Township Tourney, May 7; Metea Valley hosts Mustang Varsity Tournament, May 7.

Top players: Grace Achepohl (York, Sr.); Emily Adams (Hinsdale South, Sr.); Charlotte Albright (Naperville Central, So.); Molly Anderson (Waubonsie Valley, Sr.); Amy Blencowe (Neuqua Valley, Sr.); Rylee Brower (Naperville Central, So.); Maria Campbell (Waubonsie Valley, Jr.); Rachael Carlen (Metea Valley, Sr.); Catherine Carroll (Neuqua Valley, Sr.); Alex Cerra (Metea Valley, Jr.); Kaela Codo (Naperville Central, Sr.); Nicole Conway (Waubonsie Valley, Jr.); Samantha Etschied (Metea Valley, Sr.); Issi French (Neuqua Valley, Sr.); Emily Garza (Metea Valley, Sr.); Lauren Hamp (Hinsdale Central, Sr.); Caitlin Holzer (Naperville North, Sr.); Katie Horn (Naperville North, Sr.); Gabby Koopman (Neuqua Valley, Sr.); Mary Kress (Hinsdale Central, Jr.); Jocelyn Lent (Metea Valley, Sr.); Sarah Lewand (York, Jr.); Samara Lillioja (Hinsdale Central, Sr.); Tina McBride (Naperville North, Jr.); Kelsey Meyer (Waubonsie Valley, Sr.); Sarah Meyer (Naperville Central, Jr.); Pricilia Olivas (Metea Valley, Sr.); Jessica Ostrowski (Hinsdale South, Sr.); Maria Rantis (York, Sr.); Ali Ruden (Metea Valley, Sr.); Zoe Salafatinos (Neuqua Valley, Jr.); Abby Smedley (Metea Valley, Sr.); Kimela Srey (Waubonsie Valley, Sr.); Heather Sterchele (Neuqua Valley, Jr.); Alex Triko (Waubonsie Valley, So.); Faith Vandercar (Naperville Central, Sr.); Emily Westlove (Naperville Central, Jr.); Carli York (York, Sr.).

Outlook: One stat says it all about this spring's Naperville Central team. Ten athletes return who were responsible for 280 of last season's 303 goals. Leading the way is senior center Kaela Codo. The San Diego State-bound Codo was crucial to the Redhawks finishing 23-11 and advancing to the state quarterfinals. She received first-team all-state honors and All-American accolades. Anchoring the defense in a big way is all-state center Emily Westlove and two-time all-sectional goalie Faith Vandercar. Westlove scored 37 goals with 37 assists and made 71 steals a year ago and Vandercar made 182 saves for a 4.54 goals-against average. Rounding out the list of returning starters is Jennifer Oliver, a senior, and juniors Emily Rodgers and Alli Hansen. Coach Jeff Plackett said there are seven other athletes who will contribute to one of the deepest rotations the Redhawks have brought into the start of the season. "For the girls to be successful this season, they'll need to be patient and focus on today's game and today's practice without looking ahead," Plackett said. "We will train to be feeling and playing our best in May, so it's important that the girls endure the grind of early-season practices and respect the process."

Neuqua Valley goes into the 2016 season with its defense continuing to be its biggest strength. The team blocked nearly 400 shots last season and a big reason why, senior goalie Issi French, returns to the lineup. The Wildcats were 15-14 last season but defeated state qualifiers Naperville Central and Conant during the regular season. "I think we are capable of surprising a lot of teams that have beat us in the past because we have some strong shooting threats from players," Tiffin said. Zoe Salafatinos is the returning top scorer from last season, and Amy Blencowe and Catherine Carroll are expected to play key roles on offense and defense. The team, according to Tiffin, is responding to the leadership of team captains Gabby Koopmann, Carroll and French.

Youth and the potential of it highlights this season's Naperville North squad. "We have many new young players who will be stepping into leadership roles on the team," said coach Andy McWhirter, whose team finished 28-2 last season and reached a sectional final. Top players returning are seniors Caitlin Holzer and Katie Horn and junior Tina McBride. "Caitlin and Katie will be players this year in the field, Tina will be our defensive force in goal," the Naperville North coach said. He is also looking for contributions from new varsity players Olivia Eiken, a junior, and sophomore Isabelle Rocco and freshman Taylor Wessel. McWhirter said the key right now for the Huskies is just to gain experience. "As we rebuild, the goal is to get in and play the games and begin to learn our strengths and weaknesses," he said.

Metea Valley is looking to its experience as a key to an even more successful season than in 2015 where it finished 12-11-2 and won its first-round sectional contest. "We have a large group of seniors this year. With that comes a lot of leadership and experience," coach Wyatt Jansen said. "It has helped a lot to develop our up and coming players. I expect a strong showing from the girls this year. We are in an extremely talented conference, but we should hold our own as well as surprise a lot of teams that are outside our conference as well." A big part of that experience is senior goalie Jocelyn Lent in addition to seniors Rachael Carlen, Emily Garza, Samantha Etschied, Pricilia Olivas, Abby Smedley, Ali Ruden and junior Alex Cerra. Newcomers expected to make an impact are sophomores Ashley Busher, a goalie, along with Shaelyn Streder, Sadie Gregory and Anna Scovill.

Endurance, defense and execution of plays are the positives that Waubonsie Valley coach Kelsey Sopron sees as the season gets started for the Warriors. Their level of experience is also strong. Senior Kimela Srey, the team's leading scorer last season with 47 goals and 14 assists, returns, as does top defender Maria Campbell, who led the team with 65 forced turnovers. There's also more help on offense from senior Molly Anderson and sophomore Alex Triko. Starting goalie Nicole Conway, a junior, is also back as is key defender Kelsey Meyer, a senior. "A few of our key strengths are that they are most definitely a back-half team. They have strong endurance and stamina to last them throughout the whole game. They are great on defense and can execute plays to a 'T.' I believe our team is capable finishing over .500 and making it to the sectional semis. Waubonsie Valley has not made it to that point since 2011," Sopron said

Hinsdale Central is boosted this season by a significant number of veterans as it tries to improve upon last spring's 15-11 record and sectional semifinal appearance. "We have a strong core of starters that have been playing together for three years. They know and trust each other, which is key for team chemistry," coach Christopher Ortiz said. Seniors Samara Lillioja and Lauren Hamp and junior Mary Kress are the Red Devils' top returning scorers. Ortiz said to look for impact plays from juniors Zoe Relias and Karly Berger. "They should build on the strong finish from last season," Ortiz said of his team.

All teams want to improve their win totals from the season before, and Hinsdale South is no exception. The Hornets were 4-19 in 2015, but coach Landon Joiner believes a better record is possible during the season ahead. "This year we are looking to build up the program through team cohesion in and out of the water," he said. "I would still say that we are a young team, but we are looking forward to increasing our numbers in the winning column." Key to Hinsdale South's fortunes will be veterans Jessica Ostrowski and Emily Adams, both seniors. Newcomers expected to contribute are juniors Ava Stukas and Emily Vollmer and sophomore Briana Veselik.

York finished 14-12 last season and returns a core of veterans that could help improve upon that record this spring. "I think we are a really strong team. We graduated just one senior from last year. We're an older team, more mature and we're a faster team in the pool," coach Mark Giuliani said. Top players returning including fourth-year varsity player Grace Achepohl, who brings a strong all-around game on offense and defense, according to Giuliani, along with senior Carli York and junior Maria Rantis who further strengthen the offense. Junior goalie Sarah Lewand returns for her second season as starter. Giuliani saw some positive signs in Tuesday's 13-8 season-opening loss to Naperville North. "In previous years they would beat us 14-2, 16-3. This year is a much different situation," he said. "But we have to transition from defense to offense quicker and vice versa. We lost a couple of fastbreaks against Naperville North."

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