Piedmont High School girls water polo coach Georgia Lewis is confident in the players she has on the roster.
“We have a solid team,” she said. “We have a lot of returning players. A lot of the girls played club over the winter and the summer. We had a scrimmage against Dublin High School. I think it was a great start of the season to build confidence and get us ready for what’s happening.”
One thing the program lacks is numbers. There are 15 players listed on the varsity roster. There will not be a junior varsity team this year.
“We don’t always have enough people at practice to run a full scrimmage which makes it really challenging to practice,” Lewis said.
One possible factor in that is the ongoing reconstruction of the Piedmont pool. The Highlanders will continue to practice at Laney College this season and play all their games on the road.
But they aren’t dwelling on that. The returning players give Piedmont a solid core to build upon.
Sonja ten Grotenhuis (2023) 
Sydney Olsen (2023)
Senior Sonja ten Grotenhuis is one of the captains. “Sonja is our top two-meter defender,” Lewis said. “She’s great on defense. She’s good at keeping her distance and space so she doesn’t get grabbed or kicked out.”
The other captains are juniors Abigail Jacoby and Sydney Olsen. “Abby, she’s one of our top offensive players,” Lewis said. “She can drive, she can post up. She scored three of the goals at the scrimmage.”
Of Olsen, Lewis said, “Sydney is also fast. I think she’s going to be one of our top scorers. She works hard. More of a driver than a post up player.”
Chloe Graham, a senior, is the goalkeeper. “She’s kind of new to the position,” Lewis said. “She did a little bit last year. Nobody else wanted to do it and she stepped up. She has done a great job in goal.”
“I was a goalie,” Lewis added. “You feel like you’re all alone. It’s all about mental toughness and staying positive and I think she really does that well no matter what the shots are coming at her.”
Senior Julia Montes and sophomore Esme Krumins are back from last year’s team. The latter’s dad Rik is helping coach the team. “They both are players that I can trust,” Lewis said. “They’re going to come back on defense, they’re going to work hard. They’re both good and helping us get down to two meters, counters, a strong 6 on 5.”
As a former goalkeeper, Lewis preaches defense. “I’m always about defense first,” she said. “I think we’ve had a strong defense and will have a strong defense this year.” Lewis doesn’t have any predictions or goals to offer up.
“Right now, we’re taking it day-by-day,” she said. “I want to see how our first tournament goes (Sept. 6-7). Our goal is to keep building the program as best we can with one team. We’re trying to just keep our players strong and hopefully encourage more people to play water polo.”