SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Water Polo

Seniors have Lancers poised for championship run

By Phillip Brents

CHULA VISTA, Sept. 1, 2003 -- Seniors Nick Davidson and Kyle Kovar stand tall on the Hilltop High School boys water polo team not simply because of their height but also because of how much they have invested in the program.

Both are four-year players for the Lancers. Both have experienced some very lean times and both have seen the light ... as in the one at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

At right: Hesam Jelveh gears up for start of boys water polo season

“I always looked up to the bigger and buff guys who could tear it up. That pushed me to being like them. Now being a senior, I feel I have to push myself a little harder. I want to get a banner for my senior year. No one thinks we could do it. It would be nice if we prove them wrong,” said Davidson, who has drawn the eye of Olympic-caliber coaches the past two summers at instructional camps.

Kovar won the Division II diving championship two years ago and finished as the runner-up last spring. Diving command great mental discipline. He has decided to dedicate himself to water polo this fall.

“The only reason I swam was to do diving. But when I got into water polo that was really the start of my swimming career,” he said. “The first two years were just playing around. But my junior and senior years are a big deal. I feel that pressure in that it’s my last year. I want to get a banner real bad for the same reason as Nick — there’s people who say we can’t do it.”

Head coach John Salts hopes the resolve exhibited by his two senior standouts is strong enough to infect the rest of the team.

Joining Davidson and Kovar as four-year program players are fellow seniors Estevan Felix and Matt Silva.

Kovar will share the flat position with Matt Chism while Felix will man the wing slot with Hesam Jelveh. That leaves Davidson as the team’s primary two-meter set.

Davidson racked up 45 goals last season to tie senior graduate Jeff Schroeder, followed by Kovar with 40.

Silva looks to inherit the starting goalie position, with Fernando Yates looking to spell him from the bench. Junior Corey Fix, last year’s junior varsity goalie, moves to the defensive two-meter guard position this season.

Players playing key support roles off the bench include Greg Felix, Nicko Fix, Alan Flores, Garrett Boyle.

The program picked up more than a dozen freshmen during a recent recruiting run to complement the 17 returning players. Salts said his philosophy is to develop, not cut players from the program.

“We are happy that the team is jelling together well and that they are really starting to think and act as one unit,” Salts said. “We have a team that is youthful in age and has a desire to work together for a common goal. With the veteran leadership of Nick Davidson and Kyle Kovar, these guys will make a strong presence in the South Bay and if we continue working hard, hopefully into the CIF playoffs, as well. A lot of dedication is going into this season. I hope it is a sign of the new days ahead for Hilltop water polo.”

The Lancers have steadily risen up the ranks during Salts’ tenure with the program. Hilltop finished 8-14 last year at the varsity level but squarely scored a triumph by consistently also fielding junior varsity and novice teams. The same will hold this season despite the current budget crisis befalling the California school system.

The Lancers are scheduled to compete in two varsity and two junior varsity invitationals this season as well as one novice tournament. The 32-team Poway varsity invitational will offer an early season barometer Sept. 18-20.

“We have a solid core of players. That core of players is very close. They’ve been practicing twice a day all summer long, some of it on individual effort. They’ve banded together and set goals together,” the Hilltop coach said.

The senior leaders hope those goals will be realized.

Alumni game
The Lancers get underway with the 2003 season by hosting an alumni game Friday, Sept. 5, at 4 p.m. at the Loma Verde pool. Some of the alumni (coed) enticed to compete include Kovar’s father, Dan, a former standout Hilltop diver, as well as Dan Street, Bryan Elkerton, and recent graduates Richard Davidson (current assistant coach), Will Crumly (goalie coach), Nick and Liz Kolata, Monica Felix, Sarah Chism and Kelly Farr. Salts is hoping to make contact with more storied athletes from Hilltop's past. Warm-ups are 3 to 4 p.m. “It should be a great time for all,” Salts said.