Women’s water polo ‘rebuild’ leads team to first win since 2019

Of the 16 players on the women’s water polo team at Chapman, 10 are freshmen and four are sophomores. Despite carrying just six returners, the young team is off to a strong 2021 season. Above Sophie Salstrom, sophomore goalkeeper, looks to make a save against University of Redlands. Photo courtesy of Larry Newman

Perhaps no Chapman University sports team has seen more upheaval during the pandemic than women’s water polo. About 63% of players are freshmen. That’s right, upperclassmen are in the minority, and 88% of the team is made up of underclassmen. 

Many on the team, according to sophomore Camille Chiang, dropped out due to COVID-19 safety concerns; players felt reluctant to return to practice in February when Chapman first allowed it, Chiang said. As a result, the roster features a slew of new faces, with 10 freshmen added through offseason recruiting. 

But perhaps change comes with the new. On April 10, the group won its first game in two years — its last victory coming April 20, 2019 — by a score of 10-7 over the University of Redlands. 

“It was honestly amazing,” said Diana Khaled Hattar, a senior utility player. “(Last season) was so mentally draining ... It was great to go out and finally get that win.”

One of those freshmen was driver Leighanne Estabrook, who was named the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Offensive Athlete of the Week after she posted two goals and five assists in the Redlands win. Water polo had lost their first game of the season two weeks prior — a narrow 10-9 defeat to Redlands March 27 — and Estabrook attributed that game as the motivation behind their recent performance.

“(The loss) gave us individual goals and fueled our drive,” Estabrook said. “We knew we could win. We spent those two weeks working on the things we needed to and got ready for our next game.”

As a freshman, Estabrook has had to not only assimilate into a new program, but also adjust to playing with the young guns on the team that have never competed together before. 

“There’s a lot of learning what works best for each other and how we can work more cohesively,” Estabrook said. “So instead of being a frontcourt team, we were able to use our youth and speed to beat Redlands.”

When the team plays more cohesively, as Estabrook said, their defense improves. That’s something Sophie Salstrom, a sophomore goalkeeper, said was key to the team’s victory and her winning Chapman’s Athlete of the Week and SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Week awards. 

“I played well, but when the team plays good defense then I can play good defense,” Salstrom said. “When they play well, it makes the shots much easier for me to save.”

Salstrom will be playing alongside almost the entire defense, aside from two upperclassmen — Khaled Hattar and junior Charlene Ma — for two more full seasons. She and other young players feel their lack of experience, in a way, helps them gel. 

“Everybody is open to criticism and is trying to get better,” Salstrom said. “There isn’t a lot of seniority on the team, which I think works better. There isn’t a lot of ego on the team and people feel open to contribute their ideas.”

In previous seasons with more upperclassmen, Salstrom said, she didn’t feel freshmen had much of a voice. But now, they’ve had no choice but to speak up. The team is excited to continue growing together, hoping the April 10 victory is a sign of things to come. 

“We’re in a rebuilding stage,” Chiang said. “Hopefully everyone on the team from this year stays until next year. The freshmen this year come to practice every day eager to work and get better.”