Kickers rebound after home loss to Prep

The Bainbridge girls soccer team still has some work to do.

After suffering its first loss of the season on Tuesday to Seattle Prep, the Spartans bounced back to defeat a physical Holy Names squad 2-1 on Thursday in Seattle.

“It was a much better game (on Thursday),” head coach Mark Grindrod said. “We dominated both games in the second half. We’re just going to have to figure out how to score.”

Shibuya Kendall scored for the Cougars in the 26th minute, but Kelsey Deveraux tied it up with a pass from Allie Picha with a minute to go before the half.

After several shots went wide for the Spartans, including three that hit the post, Maureen Callahan scored the winning goal in the 77th minute on another assist from Picha.

The goals could have come in handy on Tuesday, as the Spartans couldn’t get anything going against the Panthers, losing 1-0.

Pfeffier Bloecker scored the game’s lone goal in the second minute when she got past the Spartan defense and goalkeeper Jackie Danzig.

“The whole first half they didn’t play well,” Grindrod said. “I told Lindsey Montoya when I took her out, it was because she was stressed, not because of injury. She was miskicking everything and everything was going out of bounds.

“It wasn’t much of a team effort. We were missing passes and everything.”

Picha had the best chance to score in the first half, but her shot was blocked by a Prep defender.

In the second half the Spartans were more aggressive in getting the ball in Panther territory, but were either late to a pass or were beaten to the ball.

Bloecker had more opportunities to score, but one shot was turned away by Callie Tift.

A few minutes later, Bloecker got a shot past Tift that hit the bottom corner of the goal and almost went in, but Lizzie Seligmann kicked it away.

“Jackie (Danzig) talked to the defense and said ‘You guys let me down,’” Grindrod said. “That got them working hard in the second half. I liked the fact that they were working hard. Nobody stopped on defense and let them get by.”

Grindrod also gave praise to his captains, who talked to him for several minutes after the Seattle Prep game about the team’s performance.

“They knew there was a lot of anxiety out there,” he said. “There was a lot of individual teamwork and we panicked, so we wanted to have a good talk on Wednesday about teamwork.

“After we got scored on, they were calm instead of panicking. They were chattering and being positive. It was a good experience.”

Bainbridge (1-1, 2-1-1) plays Tuesday against Chief Sealth in Seattle.

Swimmers outpace SK

It didn’t take long for the Bainbridge girls swim and dive team to establish itself, as several Spartan swimmers set state qualifying times in the first meet of the season on Tuesday.

Bainbridge swimmers were first in every event but one as they defeated the South Kitsap Wolves 129-53 at the Bainbridge Aquatic Center.

Anne Scott was the star of the day as she finished first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.88 and in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.97. The latter time just missed breaking the pool record of 23.52 set by former state champion Emily Silver in 2003.

She was also on the 200 and 400 free relay teams that achieved state qualifying times with marks of 1:44.43 and 3:52.28, respectively.

Isabel Williams, April Isa and Keziah Beall were on the 200 with Scott, while Tessa Griffin was on the 400 along with Isa, Beall and Scott.

Williams, Griffin and Isa were also on the 200 medley relay team with Julie Pendleton that achieved a state qualifying time of 1:57.51.

Williams also achieved a state qualifying time in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.57. She finished first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:14.60.

Griffin finished first in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:22.73, while Beall finished first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:06.79.

Stephanie Whalen and Shelby Mann finished one-two in the diving competition with scores of 209.80 and 153.45, respectively.

Bainbridge will host the 20th annual Spartan Relays at Ray Williamson Pool today at 9 a.m. They’ll host Newport on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

Easy win for Spart spikers

Another day, another victory for the Bainbridge volleyball team.

The Spartans defeated the Cleveland Eagles 25-7, 25-8, 25-6 in Seattle on Wednesday. Head coach Julie Miller sat stars Sabrina Tan and Hannah Stuart after the first game and played most of her bench for the other two.

“The girls did a good job,” Miller said. “The scores were very even. It was pretty much just serve it over and that was it. There were a lot of aces.”

Despite the ease with which they won, Miller was concerned that her charges wouldn’t take the game seriously.

“I told them to go out and play them like a regular game,” she said. “It’s not the best competition, but its what you have to do. It is set up by the league.

“I thought they did well playing at their level. When you have a young team, you can have lapses, but everyone did a good job.”

The win is their fourth straight going into league play next week, but the team is not one to rest on their laurels.

“You gotta take it with a grain of salt,” Miller said. “It’s nice to be undefeated but I’ve never gone by standings. It’s not my style.

“Our goal is to improve every day until the end of the season. Whether that’s through wins or losses, it doesn’t matter.”

Kelcey Dunaway had nine kills and two aces, while Alexa Seidl had four kills, two aces and nine assists. Becky Gottlieb had three aces and five digs, while Lindsey Bratonia had seven assists and three kills. Delsa Toglia had three aces.

Bainbridge will participate in the Monroe Invitational in Monroe today to defend their title. They will start off in pool play with Everett, Jackson and Bellingham.

The Spartans (4-0) will start a three-game homestand when they face off against Holy Names on Monday. Game time is at 6 p.m.

Polo Club starts season

First-year Bainbridge Water Polo Club coach Zoltan Tusnadi likes what he sees so far.

“These guys are good,” he said. “I can see daily improvement in them. I can’t work them hard enough. They’re always working and wanting to get better.”

The team finished 9-12 and placed sixth in the state tournament last year. They lost co-captain Michael Stephen-McRae but welcome back All-League selections John Swanson, Jake Santelli and Calen Ball, who was the All-League goalkeeper last year.

Other talented returners include Austin Hallet, Ritchie Moore and Drew Carwell.

Some of the new talent includes Tamas Torok, an exchange student from Hungary who played for the Hungarian junior water polo team.

“He’s been a pleasant surprise,” Tusnadi said. “He started emailing me last spring saying ‘I’ve played water polo for a long time and I’m looking forward to playing for you.’ I didn’t know what to expect, but he’ll be something pretty special.”

Tusnadi is also excited about Cheyne Clark, who will play goalie this season. Clark and the defense are strong, but Tusnadi said the offense needs work.

They’ll face competition from Mercer Island, Bellevue and Newport, but Tusnadi is “highly optimistic” they’ll return to the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way in November to battle for a state championship.

“If they bring their heads to the game, there’s no reason why they can’t be playing in the final game,” he said.