Congratulations to Otter Holly Campbell who has been selected in Scotland's team for the Commonwealth Water Polo Championships! Good luck Holly.
Etiebet Wins the Hungarian National Champs
Otter Women’s Water Polo player Peggy Etiebet won the Hungarian National Championship this week with her team Szentes. After sailing past ZF-Eger with three straight wins in their playoff semi-final, Szentes saw off Dunaujvaros by 3-1 in the final, winning the first two matches 14-13 and 9-8 respectively, losing the third game 8-5, then claiming the title with a 15-14 victory in game four.
“The atmosphere at all the games has been electric,” said Etiebet. "The play-offs take place on a home and away basis over a best of five games series.
“The stands were packed with exuberant and very noisy fans. The town really got behind the team and it has been a fantastic finish to the season.”
Congrats Peggy!
Otter runners up at British Water Polo champions
Otter ladies first team have won silver after going down 15-12 vs Liverpool Lizards in the final of the British championships.
In a close match that saw both sides attack and defend well, Liverpool’s strong start proved decisive in their eventual victory over Super 5s Champions Otter (5-1, 3-4, 3-3, 4-4).
Liverpools Rachel Drabble opened the scoring and took advantage of a man-up to score her second of the quarter. Otter’s Sarah Benett replied but two goals from Liverpool’s Lauren Tasker and one from Liverpool Captain Fiona McCann meant they finished the quarter four goals ahead.
Good build up play, some cracking goals from Liz 'Turny' Dunn and movement in the pit gave Otter the edge in the second quarter with a 4-3 win. But a goal and penalty conversion from Liverpools Katie Hesketh gave the Lizards a lead of three at the end of the first half.
Otter came out fighting in the second half with four goals from Captain Lexi Higlett and some important saves from Goalkeeper Tracey Allen. The two teams were tied during the last two periods but Liverpool’s first quarter lead proved too great for the London club to come back from and the match finished 15 – 12.
Otter crowned Super 5 champions
Otter won their first-ever British League title by defeating reigning champions City of Manchester 16-14 in a pulsating Super 5s decider at the Surrey University pool, Guildford (26 January).
The London club led 5-4 and then 10-6 at the end of the first two quarters and were only briefly under serious pressure when Manchester fought back to trail 12-11 towards the end of the third.
Otter captain Lex Higlett, who finished the match with seven goals then struck a decisive blow. With 30 seconds of Otter possession almost completed and the defence anticipating the ball would be dumped, the Australian whipped a fine shot into the net from an acute angle. Another Otter goal early in the final quarter stretched the lead to 14-11, effectively ending the Manchester challenge. Victory clinched a special double for the Otter club - their Lutra team won Championship 1.
Congrats to the whole Otter Super 5's championship team. Sarah Tollefson, Liz Dunn, Vicky Bowen, Fran Leighton, Tracey Allen, Brooke Tafazolli, Sarah Bennett, Michelle Sazama, Emma Shkurka, Rox Hargraeves, Lex Higlett, Vivi Castagna, Sammy Owen & Coach Nick Buller.
Undefeated Otter Lutra win Championship 1
Otter Lutra are the new winners of Championship 1, chalking up three wins at Grantham (30 November/1 December) to finish with a 100 per cent record. They will be joined in Division One at the start of next season by Sheffield Sharks and Leeds Sharks.
Otter had to work hard for their points. They beat Manchester Comets 7-4 - hat-tricks from Holly Campbell and Hannah Patchett - Leeds 9-6 and had to rely on a last quarter hat-trick from Hannah Patchett to clinch a 6-5 win over Mid Sussex Marlins, who had led 5-3 with four minutes remaining.
Otter players, back row, left to right: Emily Grant, Hannah Patchett, Ellie Danielson, Lindsey Williams, Rebecca Mulcahy, Isabelle (Izzy) Dean. Front: Marie Mulligan, Catherine Freeman, Jennifer Darnborough, Juliet Edey, Mhairi Nurthen and Holly Campbell.
Peggy & GBR Water Polo team prepare for European Champs
The British Gas GBR Women’s Water Polo team is preparing to head to Budapest next month for the LEN European Water Polo Championship finals.
The team qualified second in Group A in January and will face Greece, the Netherlands and hosts Hungary during the competition which begins on 14 July.
Coach Kostas Vamvakaris said: “Training is going well. The team has been centralised in Manchester for the last six weeks which has been really good and meant we have had time to work on tactics and fully prepare for the tournament. “The win against Spain in April was a huge confidence boost for the players. They feel very positive at the moment and believe in themselves which is great.”
The team travel to Madrid on 9 July to take part in a training camp with Spain before heading to Budapest. This will be GBR's second consecutive European Championships having finished seventh in Eindhoven two years ago.
Water polo is Hungary’s national sport and as such the two week tournament, which also includes a men’s competition, is expected to draw large crowds.
Good luck team GB & Peggy.
