The final DVL game for La Quinta girls’ water polo was held on Feb. 7 at the Palm Desert Aquatic Center against the team’s toughest competitor, Xavier Prep. LQ ended the first quarter in the lead with a score of 4-3. At half, the score was 7-5 with the Lady Blackhawks falling behind. In the last quarter, the teams tied 8-8 with multiple failed attempts of goals for both sides. At the last second of the game, Rachel Sherman ‘19 scored a lob, winning the game for the team and officially claiming the DVL title.

“Our team has been wanting the title our whole high school career; our hard work finally paid off. We are speechless and honored to have won,” said Sherman. “Tears of joy were [shed] after this game and I know that we couldn’t have done it without our amazing coach and every single one of my teammates. I couldn’t have asked for a better second family.”

Team Captain Hadar Gamliel ‘18 said, “Nothing could have felt better in that moment than cheering with the team and pushing coach in the pool once the final buzzer rang.”

The girls are now training to be the 2018 CIF champs. “One title down, one more to go!” said Gamliel. Their goal fits with this year’s team mantra: “GGG,” which stands for “Gotta Get Great.”

On Feb. 1, the Blackhawks defeated Palm Desert at the semi-finals with a score of 11-4. In previous years, Palm Desert served as LQ’s biggest competitor. The match started slowly for the Blackhawks with the Aztecs scoring the first goal. The Aztecs deployed a strategy the Blackhawks had not seen before, calling out defense before they tried to score and placing numerous girls in the goal instead of defending their opponents.