The Lady Chaps water polo team battled Johnson, Hays and Lehman, winning all of their games and coming out on top as District 6A Champions Sept. 26 and 27. They are only in their second year as a water polo program, and they’ve already experienced success being ranked in the top 30 in Texas.
“We have leadership qualities in all our members, but we really stress that our experienced players step up and help guide the rookies,” head coach Darci Carruthers said. “It’s great to see our upperclassmen and returning athletes naturally step into that role and take pride in helping the younger players develop.”
Carruthers has been leading the Chaps water polo teams since 2023, starting with the boys team, followed by the addition of a girl’s team in 2024. The program has been a success for all three years, and this year the girls’ team captains, senior goalie Julie Jordan and sophomore point Allee Prol have stepped into their leadership roles while “leading by example”, Carruthers said.
“Our captains have done a great job of leading by example; whether it’s in the pool, in the classroom, or by helping the team stay organized.” Carruthers said. “They bring energy and accountability to practice every day, and they’ve helped set the standard for what it means to be a committed teammate.”
The Chaps took on the Lehman Lobos and Prol came out strong as the sophomore field player scored a goal and had two assists in the first four points of the match. Prol relied on her teammates to fuel the energy and attitude of the game.
“I rely on the starters, because they’re the glue to the team, they hold us together,” Prol said. “They do all the little things that need to be done to get a goal.”
Captains Jordan and Prol have also been putting hard work to help mix the levels of experience to make a district champion team.
“So far, I feel like Julie’s doing a great job telling us how we should be moving on defense and the changes that we need to be making,” Prol said. “It’s very helpful since we have two different viewpoints of how we play, and I’m more like the offense viewpoint.”
As team captains, Jordan and Prol also feel that other players on the team, such as sophomore center forward Alena Reshetnikova have stepped up into leadership roles to help them succeed.
“Alena has shown great leadership out there in the pool of talking to her teammates and really showing what a dedicated player to the team looks like,” Jordan said.
Reshetnikova battled well against Lehman, with six of the 14 points scored by the Lady Chaps in the first half.
“We’ve been focusing on communication, conditioning, and creating new strategies for upcoming games,” Reshetnikova said. “Everyone has been working hard, staying disciplined and encouraging each other at every practice. At the same time, we’ve been practicing fast transitions, and have been learning new tricks that we can use during games.”
After claiming the co-district title with Johnson last year, the athletes are eager to take that title for themselves this year; no sharing.
“We had that hunger to win sort of thing and hunger to get better,” Jordan said. “We were co-district champions last year with a really hard team in our district, and we all wanted to win with the same goal.”
The team stresses teamwork to achieve success in the pool and together as a program. After being 6-0 in district this year, they are considered to have achieved that success.
”This team is such a joy to be around,” Carruthers said. “They work hard, they have fun and they constantly challenge each other to get better every day,” Carruthers said. “What stands out is how much they care about each other—they’ve truly built a tight-knit community in and out of the pool.”
They take on McCallum at the Round Rock ISD aquatic center for the bi-district championship on Oct. 6.
“I’m excited to see where this season takes us because the effort, positivity and commitment they bring gives us a really strong foundation to build on,” Carruthers said.
