Sean McDonald
Staff Writer
Water polo may not be as clean off a sport as it seems, and can involve dirty play that may be unsettling for younger players. However, freshmen Chris Agliozzo and Clay Allen are defying the odds by playing a role in Mira Costa’s varsity water polo team this year.
Agliozzo and Allen are both active participants in the team, and both get a fair amount of playing time for Costa. They are both tall, strong, and athletic kids, which gives them an advantage over other kids their age.
“They are both great kids in water polo,” junior attacker Mark Warneke said. “I think they both have bright futures ahead of them, not only at Costa, but beyond.”
Agliozzo and Allen participated in the water polo summer program where the incoming freshmen learn the ropes of Costa water polo program and start practicing for the upcoming season. Whether or not the two would be on the varsity team was unclear for most of the summer.
“It was unclear what team I was going to be on during the summer, but eventually I started doing some varsity practices near the end of the summer which I was pretty excited about,” Agliozzo said.
Agliozzo and Allen have been friends for multiple years now. Their experiences together on Varsity has made their friendship stronger because they both had to go through an intimidating start to the season, as Costa is one of the most competitive teams in the South Bay.
“At first I was nervous about being with all of the older guys, but with Chris there too it makes it more relaxed, and also allows for some friendly competition between the two of us,” Allen said.
Agliozzo and Allen play two very important positions in the pool. Agliozzo is an attacking player, and Allen plays set gaurd. Senior set guard Finn Pardon and senior attacker Jake Tolt have been strong role models for the two freshmen.
“Since Pardon plays my position, I have learned a lot from him, like different shooting techniques,” Allen said. “He is really skilled and has really helped me grow as a player.”
Allen is to Pardon, as Agliozzo is to Tolt, Agliozzo being more of an outside attacker that also can pass to the inside and create scoring opportunities easily. According to Tolt, Agliozzo is very talented, as well as humble.
“I like Chris, he’s very talented, especially for a freshman, and he isn’t too cocky,” Tolt said. “He knows his role on the team and doesn’t act like he is a bigger deal than he is. I think he will help a lot this season and will dominate in future years.”
Both Agliozzo and Allen are looking forward to finishing off their first seasons at Costa, and hope to make a good postseason run in CIF, and also finish out their Bay League seasons with a bang.
“I think we have a good chance to do well in CIF this year,” Allen said. “If we can all play together like I know we can, then we are putting ourselves in a spot to succeed.”
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