A Historic Season Built by Tradition

Marlborough’s 137 year history is filled with tradition—memorable ceremonies, academic excellence, a deeply connected alumnae community. But tradition isn’t only found in century-old practices, it is also built in newer programs through dedication and shared commitment. Varsity Water Polo exemplifies this beautifully. After years of building a culture of hard work and a deep team bond, the Mustangs made history this season, winning the Mission League title for the first time in School history. 

Girls Water Polo first became a California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section (CIF-SS) sport in 1998 and was not offered at Marlborough until 2007, when it was available for 7th and 8th Grade students to try as an elective. The following year, Marlborough premiered its first Varsity Water Polo team. For the last 17 years, the team competed in the Mission League and started to become accustomed to seeing Harvard-Westlake’s team dominate the League. This year, Marlborough changed the narrative. 

Water Polo Head Coach Adam Roth joined the Marlborough program in 2017 and at that time, it looked quite different than it does today. “The players were all just starting to learn,” he shared. “It was really beginner, fundamental stuff. Practices were short and small. We had a good time and then we went and played tough games.”

Despite starting with a small and inexperienced group of students, Coach Roth’s approach to coaching and the program invited students to try water polo and, if they enjoyed it, to join the team to learn together. “The number one goal is to create an environment where kids keep coming back,” he described. “If you do that, your team is going to get stronger. My approach to coaching is getting kids in the water, giving them an opportunity to improve, and then showing them that when they improve, the next step is closer than you think. And I’ve been fortunate to have players who have really bought into that idea.”

And the players really did buy in. 2025-2026 Water Polo Captains Rhiannon K. ’26 and Sasha K. ’27, described the amazing bond between the players and the energy of a team willing to put in the work to get better every day, together. “My teammates are some of my best friends,” Rhiannon said with a smile. “I hang out with them during school, during practice, after school—it's just so important to have people in your life that will push you, but also be there to support you.” 

The bond of a team doesn’t just happen overnight. It requires players to commit to the arduous and time consuming work of training, practicing, and showing up for one another during the ups and downs of a season and to care deeply about each other and the team. This season, the team spent countless hours training and competing with one of their most robust schedules to date, including consistent early morning team weightlifting sessions before school that they’ve maintained for two seasons.

These weightlifting sessions provided extra hours of strength training, and so much more. “I feel like the lifting played a huge part in bringing everyone together,” Sasha shared. “Everyone would be dancing to the music while working hard.”

The Captains also described the traditions created within the team to support one another and strengthen that bond, such as “spirit sisters,” where an older player is paired with a younger player to give encouragement throughout the season—making signs and being a cheerleader for that person. 

The team also has a symbolic award called “Beast Mode,” small monster plush toys that are awarded to a player if they do something notable. “If someone had a really good game or improved at something, they can get ‘beast mode’ and once we get the ‘beasts’, we're allowed to give them to our teammates. It's a way that we can show each other how grateful we are for our teammates and that we notice them working hard and improving,” Rhiannon explained.

The team’s bond and mutual support built the foundation for the players to show up consistently and continue to get better year after year. The program has had notable success in prior seasons, advancing to the CIF-SS Championship games in both 2021 and 2022 in Division 6 and Division 4, respectively. With each competitively successful season, the team moved up a division, ultimately competing at the Division 1 level in 2025-2026 and competing against the strongest programs in the region. Despite these successes, the Mission League title had proven elusive against dominant opponents. 

After years of hard work and player investment, the team was able to battle for and win that title this year. Both Marlborough and Harvard-Westlake had 4-0 records in league play heading into the title-deciding game on January 26. After a competitive game with exhilarating lead switches and a nail-biter ending, the Mustangs came out on top with a score of 13-11. 

Rhiannon, a Senior in her final season with the Mustangs, said of the hard-earned win: “I cried tears of joy after winning, just watching everyone work together to get us this win was so rewarding." Sasha echoed the sentiment, “We all really gave it 110% in that game.”

While being the Mission League Champions for the first time in School history is quite the accolade and certainly cause for immense celebration, what is clear about this program is that the traditions they’ve built and the bonds they’ve forged will last beyond the wins. “One of the most valuable things that the players will take from this is the shared experience of going through it together,” Coach Roth shared. “You can’t sign up for that. You can endure that, and you can be there for each other while you do it. That’s one of the most rewarding things about coaching this program, you’re shepherding this process of them experiencing it together, and that’s irreplaceable.”