January 26th, 2026, the girl’s water polo team at Costa Mesa High School competed against Garden Grove High School in League Prelims. It was clear from the start which team would win, as the Mustangs scored 4 goals in the first quarter, as well as taking 3 ejections in the first quarter due to some questionable calls. There were also an extra 5 ejections throughout the rest of the quarter.
Garden Grove scored a total of 3 goals, with 2 in the second quarter and a final third goal with 25 seconds left in the last quarter.
The Mustangs went on to score 4 goals in the second quarter, another 4 in the third quarter, and 3 in the fourth. Violet Carlton scored 7 goals throughout the game, while Mia Walker and Tessa Tougas both scored 3 goals each. Vy Thomas and Gaby Barragan also scored one goal each, for a total of 15 goals.
With the prelims of the League Championship being a clear victory, Fullerton had beaten their opponent, Segerstrom, and played against the host Buena Park for the Finals.
However, Buena Park beat Fullerton 21-9 and took the opportunity to compete against the Mustangs for the second time, in League Finals. The winner of this game would be the League champion, however both teams would move on to CIF.
The Mustangs are playing in the Prelims for CIF at Costa Mesa High School’s pool at 3:30PM against Orange tomorrow, February 5th.
Buena Park, who is currently ranked 29th in the nation, won as predicted by the previous match against the Mustangs, 6 (Mustangs) to 17 (Coyotes).
Violet Carlton, the clear MVP of the game with 5 of the 6 goals, said: “I think my team performed well and tried their best. We had to play more subs than normal, so it was difficult for them to play a full game. That added a lot to the difficulty. I think we also needed some more communication. Overall, I’m really proud of everyone’s growth now that it is the end of the season. My expectations for next year is definitely more practice and games. I think that gets everyone on the team comfortable and gives them more confidence to try new things. I also think we will get more wins under our belt.”
