Spring Branch ISD Featured News

 

Memorial High School Mustangs

 

After 50 years of being a club sport, Mustang Water Polo enters first season as an official UIL sport with high hopes 

The Memorial Boys Water Polo team has been to state for the past five seasons as a club team. Now, they have already made a big splash early in the season with a first place finish at the Cy-Fair ISD Polo Tournament! 

“The boys have been playing well so far in many close games,” said Head Coach Jason Mauss. “We still have loads to improve on, but we are getting better.”

The girls team has seen wins in close games, one of them over in-district rival Stratford. They have also faced competition versus some of the best water polo teams in the state. 

“Our girls continue to get better as they play some of the top teams in Texas,” said Mauss. “We have seen many girls step up and it’s exciting to see them win some close games. We have to keep practicing hard to meet our goals.”

Leading the boys are 2nd team All-State senior Romain Joubert, senior Sebastien Warren, and 2nd team All-State junior Cameron Brenton. For the girls, senior Bella Norton and juniors Olivia Wilkinsonand Paige Koehn are in leadership positions. 

Matchups both the girls and boys teams look forward to are versus Jersey Village and Stratford high schools. The Mustangs already took a W over Jersey Village this season, and are ready to take on Stratford on Sept. 9 and 23.  Both boys and girls teams are keeping their sights set on postseason play. 

“I believe both teams can go far in the playoffs if we stay grounded, focused and keep working hard,” commented Mauss. “We are striving to win every game and if we do the little things right we can make it to State.”

See the full schedule at springbranchisd.com and keep up with Memorial High School Water Polo at @MemorialHS_swim on Twitter.

 

Spring Woods High School Tigers

 

Tigers looking to hold their own during district play

To start off the season, Spring Woods boys water polo has had three major wins. In leadership positions for the team are upperclassmen Landon Wolfram, Nabil Tlass and David Trevino. 

“The season has had its ups and downs,” said Head Coach Loren Gardner. “The boys team graduated a lot of senior players last season. However, I believe that this group has shown progress in working together as a team.”  

So far in the season, the boys team had an exciting showing at the Purple Monkey Tournament. The team trailed the entire game until the last minute when they tied it to take the game into overtime. In overtime, the Tigers trailed again until the last ten seconds when Nabil Tlass scored the winning point.

The Tigers have also put together a girls team, but unfortunately their first game was canceled due to weather. Gardner and the athletes are looking forward to their first performance in early September.

Gardner knows that as both teams work together and learn how to communicate with each other, they will see improvement in the water and in their match results. They are looking forward to every opportunity to play. 

See the full schedule at springbranchisd.com and keep up with Spring Woods High School Water Polo at @AthleticsSwhs on Twitter.

 

Stratford High School Spartans

 

Early growth opportunities set up the Spartans for long-term success

The Stratford boys and girls water polo teams are off to a busy start. Their season began with back-to-back tournament weekends and various games that have shown depth in offense and defense for both teams. This season, both squads have already seen notable improvements and victories. 

The girls have marked wins versus Tomball Memorial High and Lamar High, both of which are formidable opponents. The boys also won versus Lamar in overtime after making a big comeback in the second half of the game. 

“In both games, the girls played together and communicated well. With each win the girls are becoming more confident,” said Head Coach Maggie Albers. “The boys team played together better than they have all season. They played great communicative defense and made offensive connections that we were not able to identify previously. I think the Lamar game was a turning point for us in the season.”

According to Albers, both the girls and boys rosters are very well rounded without much of a gap between the starters and second string players. Players to keep an eye on are seniors Ashley Cooper and Caroline Smith, and junior Lily Askounis on the girls team and seniors Lowell Moss, and Kyle Brown, plus junior Luke Barber on the boys team.

“Everyone can hold their own in the water,” said Albers. “Both teams have set big goals with eyes on the state tournament at the end of the season.”

See the full schedule at springbranchisd.com and keep up with Stratford High School Water Polo at @77079Athletics on Twitter.