The girls’ varsity water polo team lost to Novato 10-7 on September 14. The Hornets (1-0) and Hawks (0-1) were neck in neck through the first two quarters with Novato leading 6-5. The third quarter was low scoring with Novato and Tam only scoring in the four minutes and two minutes to go, respectively. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Hawks had a good chance to pull past Novato for the victory, but the Hornets were able to defend the lead for the game’s final minutes.

The Hawks were missing two keys players in junior Lillie Gilbert and sophomore Jada Andrews. However, Tam showed promise for the season and a clear star emerged in freshman Sam Sternfels. Sternfels scored all seven goals for the Hawks and played every minute of the game. “I think our performance as a team could be better,” Sternfels said, “but I think that is just something that comes with time.”

Despite the loss, Sternfels is excited for the rest of the season and has high hopes.

“Our coach hopes to see us in the final MCAL games,” Sternfels said. “I’m looking forward to that, if we perform how I expect us to.”