Water polo is the most physical sport we play here at Mercy. For those who are not familiar it is quite aggressive, often athletes are dunked and held underwater. A few weeks ago our teams played in a game that we believed lacked sportsmanship and the true spirit of interscholastic athletics. After the game many of our players and parents were upset with how the game was played. I followed up with player meetings, parent phone calls, and meetings with league commissioner and the principle of the opposing team. We thought about not competing at all but in the end we decided that we would combine teams for one large varsity team. Recently we had our rematch with that team while there was some trepidation the game went smoothly. At the end of the day what is most important is maintaining a safe environment for our athletes to compete and grow through healthy competition. I believe our players, parents, and coaches walked off the pool deck with their heads held high. There is always a lesson to be learned through sports participation and I am proud of everyone in our program for their patience and poise.
On Wednesday Cross Country competed in the first WBAL League meet of the season. We were short on runners for JV and Dalilah Sanchez ‘25 ran a solid race. In the varsity race Nicole Castagna ‘23 and Ysabella Matsumoto ‘25 were the top two runners. Nicole Castagna ‘23 finished with a time of 24:39 finishing 34 overall while Ysabella Matsumoto’25 ran 24:53 and 37 overall.
On Monday Mercy traveled to both Sharon Heights and Baylands to compete against Sacred Heart Prep. In a windy afternoon SHP got the best of us scoring 226 to our 263.
On Tuesday in our Pink Match Mercy donned Pink Polo's, Pink bows, and pink balls as they took on Notre Dame Belmont at Crystal Springs. Eva Denten '23 had the low score for Mercy with a 41. Jaylyn Remolona '24 was not far behind with a 43. Mercy won as a team 247 to 254.
On Thursday Mercy again traveled to Baylands this time against Menlo School. The team lost by 10 strokes 221 to 231.
On Thursday Mercy Junior Varsity hosted The Kings Academy at Skyline. The team got off to a hot start in singles with both Gia Roberts '26 and Sophia Alterio '24. The team went on to win 6-1.
Varsity
On Tuesday Mercy hosted Nueva at Skyline. Audrey O'Brien '25 started off the week strong with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. In doubles Hayden Damasgaard Hughes '25 and Shayla Whitley '24 earned a victory with in the third set with a score of 6-1, 1-6, 10-8. The team lost 5-2.
On Thursday Mercy traveled to The Kings Academy. The team was able to get some victories in singles from Maria Shelley '24 winning 7-5, 6-1 and Audrey O'Brien '25 6-3, 7-5. Our doubles was overpowered by TKA and the team eventually lost 5-2.
Junior Varsity
This last weekend Junior Varsity competed in the Notre Dame Tiger Cup. After a long day of competition the team finished as the Consolation Bracket Champions! They lost in the first round to Mitty 18-25, 25-23, 13-15. After Mitty they won in straight sets against Aptos 25-19, 25-18. They took three sets against Lowell 19-25, 25-22, 15-11 and finished with another straight set victory against Aragon 25-23, 25-19.
On Thursday Junior Varsity wrapped up the first half of WBAL league play against Castilleja. In a quick match the team dominated from the start with scores of 25-11 and 25-5.
Varsity
On Thursday Mercy hosted Castilleja. Castilleja pushed the team to 4 sets but Mercy was the stronger team throughout. Mercy won the first set 25-22 with strong hitting from Ava Cacao '25. The second set Castilleja came out fired up and rattled off a few points early on. They closed out the set with a score of 19-25. Mercy held on in the final two sets winning 25-19 and 25-21.
On Tuesday Mercy traveled to Terra Nova in an even match the team stayed close to the top team in league. The score at the end did not reflect the competition of the game with Terra Nova pulling away 17-5.
On Wednesday Mercy hosted Half Moon Bay. In another tough battle Mercy lost 16-9 with Summer McGuire '23 scoring 7 goals. The Junior Varsity team lost 16-1.