
The Tualatin boys and girls water polo teams both reached the state championship playoffs last year, marking the first time both teams have done that in the same season since 2014.

Large portions of each team have been in the program playing together for a few years now, and that, combined with the playoff experience from last year, has the Timberwolves thinking about deeper runs in the postseason this year.
“All these games against teams that in the past have destroyed us are pretty close now,” said senior Sienna Hoff, one of the captains of the girls team. “We’re figuring out how to play together. I think we can make it further than we ever have.”
Senior Rylee Ford-Hylands agreed, saying that their freshman year was really strong, and while they didn’t get as far the next year, it was helpful in showing the younger players how they could be successful as they age into and lead the program.
“Getting the experience was great,” she said. “You can see in our scores and how we play over the years — and even in just a few weeks — how we can change and grow.”
The girls team is a bit more senior-heavy this year, and Head Coach Ashley Elisara said they are led by Hoff, along with fellow captains Ford-Hylands and junior Carissa Parry.
“Our captains are the ones making sure our team is on the same page on how to attack on offense,” Elisara said. “They’re really communicating and doing everything we need to do on defense.”

As more players, like the captains, come up through the program and play club together outside school, the Timberwolves are seeing a lot more continuity, so even if there is a year with a lot of turnover due to graduation, they can still remain competitive, Parry said.
“We’ve lost a lot of seniors, but every year we come back, and I’m always surprised with how people have improved,” she said. “We all get so excited, and we all get so close.”
The girls sit at 8-7 on the current season as of our press deadline. With nearly a month left in the regular season, they’re in a spot to eclipse last year’s record when they went 11-16.
“We’re getting better every game,” Elisara said. “We’re not beating those high-level teams we need to beat to be in that next round of competition, but we’re improving.”
Hoff and Parry have the team’s top two goal scorers this season, with Hoff leading the Timberwolves at 38 goals and Parry netting 30 so far on the year. Parry leads the team in overall points (53) and assists (23). Hoff is next up in points (48), followed by Ford-Hylands (24).
Sophomore Cassandra Boyce is fourth on the team with 19 points

Over on the boy’s side, they’re nearly at last season’s win total with a few weeks of games left. They sit at 12-6 this year after going 13-13 last year. One of the bigger wins this year for the boys was a 10-6 win against Lakeridge, usually one of the top water polo teams in the state.
“It was a big one for them,” Elisara said. “They were super excited. They were one of our top competitors last year.”
The boys have also faced off with defending state champ Barlow twice in tournaments this year, losing the first matchup by three goals and then losing again by one in overtime.
Tualatin’s offensive attack is led by junior Fisher Tweten, senior Jake Madrid, and senior Brady Carey. Madrid leads the team with 48 goals, followed by Tweten (43), Carey (37), sophomore Ethan Clews (29), and junior Kenji Kasubuchi (23).
Tweten leads the team with 47 assists and 90 total points. Madrid has 72 points on the year, and Carey has 53. Sophomore Thurston Gilchrist is second on the team with 24 assists, which he is dishing out as the team’s goalie.
Elisara praised not only his work in net, but Kasubuchi’s shot-blocking ability, helping to stop some of those shots from even reaching the net. She also said the boys team has a lot of players who have played together for years at this point, and it’s showing out in the pool.
Tweten agreed.
“Last year kind of a buildup year with only one senior,” he said. “A lot of us came out of that high school season and went and played club. I feel like we’ve grown a lot and gotten a lot better this season.”
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