Clark girls water polo set to take on Hebron in first state tournament appearance

After watching her older sister pick up club water polo, Colette Dreher decided to follow in her sibling's footseteps.

Now, Dreher has reached a level of competition her sister, Lilly, a former Clark water polo team captain, dreamt of - the state tournament.

"This has been years in the making," she said Thursday morning.

Clark girls water polo is making its first UIL state tournament appearance in program history this Friday. Clark (26-3) faces Lewisville Hebron (26-0) in a 10 a.m. state semifinal match at Josh Davis Natatorium. The winner plays Clute Brazoswood or Richmond Foster in Saturday morning's state title match.

"There's a lot of nerves, especially because it's gonna be a really big game," freshman defender Maddie Halliburton said. "But I'm actually just really excited that we got all this far."

In the boys tournament, Boerne Champion is representing the Greater San Antonio area. Boerne Champion (25-3) faces League City Clear Creek (32-3-1) at 1:30 p.m. Friday afternoon in the state semifinals. The winner plays Austin Westlake or Hebron in the boys state finals at noon Saturday. Boerne Champion's boys team has qualified for the state tournament for five straight seasons.

Clark's match against Hebron on Friday will be the second time Clark takes on the Hawks this season. The two teams faced off in a mid-August tournament that resulted in a 11-4 Hebron victory.

"We were just trying to get the groove of everything," junior Ali Maldonado said of the early season match against Hebron. "I think this time is going to be a lot different than before. We were all trying to figure out who we were as players and trying to figure out the team and trying to figure out each other."

But at this point in the season, Clark has the identity it was working to develop in August.

"We have a lot more chemistry now," Clark assistant coach Rebecca Halliburton said. "We're really playing to our strengths. We know what they have. We know this is not going to be an easy battle, but we're prepared."

Dreher usually keys in on the other team's top defenders to allow Maldonado and Halliburton to operate on offense.

"It's my job as the third component to be the defender on their best player," Dreher said. "Just kind of stick to them the whole game."

The trio has been critical to Clark's success so far this season. Statistically, Maldonado leads the team in scoring with 113 goals and Dreher is the team's assists leader with 54.

When Clark took down Harlan 14-13 in the regional final last weekend to qualify for state, Halliburton scored a team-high seven goals, including the game winner. She also leads the team in steals with 116 this season.

"We have such good chemistry," Maldonado said. "And I think that's why we are such a strong team in the water and outside of the water."

Dreher believes surviving the close Harlan match only brought the team closer together. Halliburton's game-winner came at the 2:35 mark in the final period, and the Clark defense prevented Harlan from taking a final shot as time expired.

"That game we didn't let it slip, and if anything, we let it bring us closer together," Dreher said. "I think that does make us more confident for the Hebron game."

While Clark will have to go through a familiar opponent to become the first San Antonio area girls water polo team to win a UIL championship, the Cougars' belief in each other has already led them to make school history.

"It's always been a thought in the back of our mind," Maldonado said of making state. "But we just knew that we had to just go game by game, and we knew that we could make it this far."