Junior Maya Mladjan missed last year’s season-ending loss for the Lyons Township High School girls water polo team in the sectional final. The 2023 second-team all-stater was sidelined by a concussion during the final seconds of the Lions’ semifinal victory.
“It did frustrate me, but it is what it is,” Mladjan said. “It happened. I’ve learned to look past it.”
After experiencing growing pains with a young lineup, the Lions are going for their third sectional title in the past four seasons and a berth to the eight-team state finals next week at Stevenson High School.
The Lions (23-5), seeded No. 1 in the LTHS Sectional, play No. 4 Richards in Friday’s semifinals in Western Springs. The winner meets No. 2 Mother McAuley or No. 3 Goode STEM Academy at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday for the sectional title.
Going for a ninth consecutive state finals trip, the LTHS boys (21-3) also are the No. 1 seed in their LT Sectional. They play No. 4 Curie in Friday’s semifinals with the winner playing No. 2 St. Rita or No. 3 Brother Rice in the 10 a.m. sectional final Saturday.
In 2023, the LTHS girls lost to state runner-up McAuley 13-11 in the sectional final. This season, they have beaten the Mighty Macs all three meetings, including 16-5, April 18, on Senior Night for just three varsity players — Estelle Wright, Tess Filipiak and Ellie Baum.
The Lions have won 11 of their last 12. Their last two losses are by one goal.
“The team’s definitely improved [this season] and I’m excited to see where we come,” Mladjan said.
So has Mladjan, who has a team-best 99 goals with 36 assists and 58 steals. Other standouts include sophomore Bella Recker (69 goals, 29 assists), Wright (38 goals, team-high 84 assists and 99 steals), Filipiak (31 goals, 46 assists), sophomore Bebe Wright (26 goals, 18 assists, 62 steals) and junior goalie Delaney Judkins (238 saves, .667 save percentage).
Mladjan plays center defense and center hole, the primary offensive position occupied mostly last season by all-state sister Emilia, now playing at Michigan.
“I’ve been on the side and now I’m more in the center,” Mladjan said. “Recently [coach Megan Jacobs] has been putting me more in center [hole] through posting up or just putting me in the position. I feel like I’m just grasping the position and definitely in the future I hope to improve.”
The boys have won 15 of their last 16, losing 5-4 in overtime, April 27, against New Trier, the team they probably would meet should they reach the state quarterfinals. They’ve allowed five goals or fewer in 15 games.
“I always felt we could play well this year,” said senior Charlie Vlk, who has 144 saves this season as the Lions’ lone goalie.
“Our defense especially has done extremely well. It’s kind of a hand-in-hand thing. Without [our defenders], it’s harder for me to make saves. As long as we work together, that’s when our defense is really good.”
Seniors Luke Jackson (55 goals, 18 assists) and Brendan Whelton (51 goals, 18 assists) are the Lions’ leading scorers, followed by junior Sami Rabah (38 goals, 39 assists) and seniors Finn Vahey (36 goals, 28 assists), Michael Wall (25 goals, 5 assists), Sam Garvin (24 goals, 4 assists) and Michael Avakian (15 goals, 11 assists).
RBHS water polo
The RBHS girls (4-14), seeded No. 5 in the Fenwick Sectional, advanced to Friday’s 7:30 p.m. semifinals against top-seeded York by beating No. 4 Elk Grove 19-8 Saturday with their highest goal total of the season.
The sectional final is at 1 p.m. Saturday against No. 2 Fenwick or No. 3 Oak Park and River Forest.
In the LT Sectional, the No. 7 RBHS boys (3-19) lost to No. 2 St. Rita 18-9 in the quarterfinals Saturday.
Senior and 2023 all-sectional Alex Jacobs had 94 goals and 14 assists, followed by juniors Avi Ponnappan (37 goals, 12 assists) and Martynas Bieliauskas (13 goals, 7 assists), who also made 86 saves as the part-time goalie.
