Cy Creek’s water polo program is a dynasty in the making. Photo by Cy Creek Water Polo
Originally appeared on Vype.com.
Even though Cypress Creek water polo added its sixth and seventh state championships the last two years, it’s often overlooked as one of the area’s most dominant dynasties.
A big part of that is being a non-UIL program, which affects exposure, funding and roster depth.
Coach Jeff Chandler lost four of his seven starters to the 2016 graduation, and a pair of first-team, all-state honorees to this year’s ceremony, but he’s been training this year’s group for a number of years.
If seniors Brooke Jones, Alexis Agueros, Kristina Gantz and Rachel Brewer, as well as junior Kayla McQueen, become the utility players and leaders he wants them to be, a three-peat could be on the horizon.
“It’s the next person up,” Chandler said of his team’s mentality. “They know what I expect, and what they need to do to win.”
Although Chandler joked that “scoring more goals than the other teams” was the key to winning another championship, it’s really going to come down to filling the roles of three losses on defense.
Former all-state, honorable-mention Jones doesn’t expect that to be a problem because she said her team performs the best when its back is against the wall.
“We have a very small water polo community at our school, and I think that may push us to be better,” Jones said. “We don’t have a lot of extra [players], so we have to work really hard to get our small bench to be very good.”
Even with Cy Creek’s tradition and excellence in the sport, water polo isn’t growing at the same rate as other schools in Cy-Fair ISD. Jones said the $250 club fee that athletes have to pay to play the TISCA sport is one of the reasons why more athletes at her school are not coming out for the sport, but Chandler thinks the added district competition will help his program long-term.
“I don’t think there’s going to be major changes until it becomes a UIL-sanctioned sport,” Jones said. “We haven’t had any kids from other sports come over to us.”
This article appeared in the December issue of VYPE Magazine. Pick up your copy today at any one of our locations!
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
The Texas Longhorns still believe in quarterback Quinn Ewers despite two poor games from the third-year starter who was briefly benched in last week's loss to No. 1 Georgia, coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday.
Ewers struggled through one of his worst career games against the Bulldogs, completing 25 of 43 passes for 211 yards with an interception and two fumbles. He was 6-of-12 passing for 17 yards on the Longhorns' first six drives, and was replaced by Arch Manning in the second quarter as Georgia took a 23-0 lead into halftime.
Ewers returned in the third quarter and led two touchdown drives. But the overall performance in one of the biggest games of the season was well below what was expected from a veteran quarterback who some predict as a potential first round NFL draft pick.
Texas never led against the Bulldogs and Ewers looked rattled.
Sarkisian has insisted that Ewers remains the No. 1 quarterback going forward.
“We have confidence and belief in him,” Sarkisian said. “I think he's going to come out and play really good football for us here in the second half of the season.”
Texas (6-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) plays at No. 25 Vanderbilt (5-2, 2-1) on Saturday.
Ewers did not meet with reporters on Monday.
He had performed at his best in some of Texas' biggest games the previous two seasons. He was considered a likely Heisman Trophy contender after the Longhorns won at defending national champion Michigan in week two.
But he was sidelined by an abdomen strain in the first half a week later against UTSA, and the injury knocked him out of the next two games. He returned for Texas' 34-3 win over Oklahoma, but had just 199 yards and one touchdown passing and said he needed to play better.
Against Georgia, Ewers appeared hesitant against a fierce Bulldogs pass rush and missed several throws. The Bulldogs recorded seven sacks and Texas never led.
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck was arguably having an even worse game. He was 23-of-41 passing for 175 yards and three interceptions.
But after Texas cut the Georgia lead to 23-15, Beck answered by leading the Bulldogs on an 11-play, 89-yard drive to the final touchdown of the game.
“I think Quinn definitely can play better. We've got to continue to work on his pocket presence,” Sarkisian said. “But I also think we need to play better around him. You know, our offense isn't about one player playing well.”
Texas rushed for just 29 yards and and managed only 259 total yards of offense against Georgia.
Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. said the Longhorns will rally behind Ewers.
“We're always going to trust Quinn. We're always going to believe in Quinn,” Banks said.