#nickhalaby

[notredamehighschoolca]

Lady Knights are ready to make a splash

This is the time of year that we see an end to fall sports and get ready for the winter sports. In the coming months, Notre Dame High School will get ready for its men and women’s basketball and soccer teams beginning their seasons. Though, the girls water polo team will add to that excitement as the Lady Knights prepare for one of their most anticipated seasons in recent memory.

This coming season will be the first that the girls water polo team plays on Notre Dame's campus. That, along with a squad of young and veteran players, will help raise expectations for the Lady Aqua Knights.

“We should be pretty good this year,” head coach John Hirn said. “I think that our defense will be very strong and we just need to figure out our rotations and things and we’ll be fine.”

Hirn expects that having the new pool on campus will help the girls gain some momentum. Hirn talked about the excitement and pageantry that surrounded the boys' home water polo game against Crespi High School.

“It was a very exciting time to be a part of Notre Dame water polo," Hirn said. "Playing off of campus all these years, it’s difficult to get some outside excitement going because a lot of kids don’t see it. When they see it, they go 'Wow, this is cool! This is way different than I thought.' Hopefully we can keep that going.”

Hirn said that the team’s goals include to win league, which would put them in a good spot in playoffs. With the new home pool advantage and mounting expectations, the team seems to have a lot to live up to.

For the Lady Knights, this upcoming season is a big one. Having a new pool to call home will be a huge factor into the coming success that the team could have.

--Nick Halaby

[notredamehighschoolca]

No better way to clinch

On Tuesday, November 4, the Aqua Knights, Notre Dame’s Water polo team, played much more than a game. A win would get them a playoff berth, not to mention bragging rights over their hated rivals Crespi. In recent memory, Crespi has had the upper hand when it came to matching up in Water polo. “We’ve lost to them the last two years so it’s very important for me, the seniors and the team to get this win in our last Crespi game,” said Senior Ian Buenafe hours before the match was set to begin. This game was also Senior Night, which added even more emotion to the atmosphere.

With the Knights playing home games this season on Notre Dame’s campus, student and community presence at the games have been noticeably bigger than previous years.  The Crespi game only amplified that, as fans from both sides crowded the pool deck. At first, the game was close, with both the Knights and Celts trading goals. After a while, the Knights defense seemed to wear Crespi down and eventually Notre Dame’s offense exploded.  The game ended with a Knight victory of a score of 17-7. Even though the game itself was close to a blowout, the atmosphere remained hot. With both Crespi and Notre Dame student sections trading chants and parents cheering with deafening roar after every score, the scene became a rather rowdy one. Even Notre Dame’s Irish Knight Band made an appearance, which added even more to the emotional atmosphere. 

After the final buzzer had sounded and the seniors celebrated their win over their rivals, coach Jason Falitz talked about the impact that the fans had on this game. “We’ve been waiting all year for a game like this and we’ve been waiting all year for this game, so to get it done in front of our home crowd with the band and everything was awesome,” he said. When asked about what it was like to beat Crespi the way they did, a smile came to his face. “It was excellent. It was by far one of the most satisfying wins of my Notre Dame career.” For the Knights, the playoffs await and for their seniors, a fitting ending to their storied Notre Dame careers might be around the corner. 

- Nick Halaby

[notredamehighschoolca]

Notre Dame’s annual Dig Pink event

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     On Thursday afternoon on the Sherman Oaks campus of Notre Dame, students and parents came out in support of Girls Volleyball’s annual Dig Pink fundraiser. Dig Pink is an event that raises money and awareness for Breast Cancer and has become an annual tradition for the Knight community. Because it’s a mix of High School competition and community outreach, Dig Pink is both a unique and iconic event.

     This year, the event began earlier in week as players walked campus selling this year’s version of Dig Pink T-shirts, the proceeds of which would go to the fight against Breast Cancer. On Thursday, hours before the varsity game was to begin, players were outside the gym selling everything from root beer floats to pink frosting cookies.  The team members were not the only ones selling that night, as the famous Grilled Cheese truck made an appearance to help bring money into the cause. Inside the gym, the bleachers and wall were covered in everything from pink balloons to enormous banners riddled with catch phrases all relating to the night’s theme of beating breast cancer. Before the beginning of the Varsity game between Marymount and Notre Dame, both teams had a rather special pre game presentation. Each girl from both teams announced who they would be dedicating the game to, which was usually a loved one touched by the disease. The game itself was exciting, as it went the full five matches, with Marymount coming out on top.  As good as the game was, it was almost an afterthought to the entire purpose and meaning of the nights festivities.

     The result of the game did not matter. What Dig Pink means and what it stands for is bigger than any final score. For Notre Dame’s Girls Volleyball team, the night was a success. They raised a large amount of money for the fight against breast cancer and, at the same time, united their Holy Cross community.  

- By Nick Halaby

[notredamehighschoolca]

This is what a dynasty looks like

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It’s 3:30 on a Wednesday afternoon in Sherman Oaks. As football players walk to practice and the girls' water polo team jumps in the pool for a workout, Coach Ann McClung tries to organize her golf team for a team photo.

They all agree upon a pyramid formation, five girls on the bottom and four on the top. This is what a dynasty looks like. These girls have just won their sixth consecutive league championship and, after their pictures, are on their way to attempt another run for a CIF title. The five girls on the bottom make up a core who will be back next year. For the four on top, this is their last team photo shoot.

Seniors Samantha Winchester, Kathryn Newton, Janet Yeo, and Lauren Crittenden will be playing their last match in a Knight uniform this coming week. For them, being on top of this shaky, and sort of dangerous, pyramid marks the end of an era.

“We’ve gotten very close as four girls, and also four competitors,” explains Newton, who talked about what this end to their journey will be like.

“Since this is our last year, we want to leave with a legacy,” exclaims Yeo, “so we all want to win CIF and we are all working hard to get that goal.”

These four girls are among some of the most successful athletes on Notre Dame’s campus, with Winchester being last year’s league MVP and Yeo winning it this year. Now, as seniors, they are left thinking about what their last hole as a Knight Golfer will be like.

“Oh God,” says Winchester, as the thought goes through her mind.

Crittenden says that, “Having that last shot will be just surreal, since high school has gone by so fast. I’ve probably made the best of my memories with the this team and I’ll honestly miss them so much when we all go to different places, so that last put, I’m going to make it count.”

After their photo shoot is done, the girls break into song. It’s Crittenden’s eighteenth birthday, and they intend to show her all the love of a family. For Yeo, Winchester, Newton, and Crittenden, this coming week will be the end of an era. For Coach McClung and her other five girls, they will lose a part of their family this coming May, as the four seniors graduate from Notre Dame. As for now, while Crittenden is being mobbed by her teammates, this family is still united and is poised to quite possibly add one more piece to their collection of championship rings. 

--By Nick Halaby