Girls’ Water Polo: Britt a catalyst for CdM

Eliza Britt thought for a moment before finding a good word to describe the Corona del Mar High girls’ water polo season so far.

The Sea Kings have been ranked at No. 4 in CIF Southern Section Division 1 for nearly the whole season. They’ve finished fourth in each of their first two tournaments, the Holiday Cup and the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.

The word that Britt ended up using was “static.” Three losses to No. 3-ranked rival Newport Harbor — all by a single goal and one in overtime — have stung Britt, an ultra-competitive senior co-captain.

“We’re not playing badly,” Britt said. “We haven’t lost to any teams ranked below us. But we’ve never really been in this situation before, where we haven’t beaten any teams ranked above us. The three losses to Newport, we don’t take those lightly. We definitely are working every day to beat those top three teams. We have one more chance to do that before CIF ... I think if we put in the effort we can get there.”

That last chance is the Irvine Southern California Championships, a three-day, 32-team tournament that begins Thursday. CdM is again the No. 4 seed.

Britt and the Sea Kings (12-5), who play host to No. 6-ranked San Marcos in a key nonleague game Saturday at 10 a.m., are working hard to break the cycle. As far as Britt’s three-year varsity career at CdM, that “static” word doesn’t really apply.

The role of Britt, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week who is bound for Princeton, has changed every season. Yet, every season she has stepped up.

For example, she is the only current member of the Sea Kings with experience playing in the Division 1 title game. She did so at the end of her sophomore season, coming off the bench to record a key field block as CdM rallied to beat Newport Harbor, 6-5, to capture its first Division 1 title.

On a CdM team with star seniors like Cassidy Papa, Ally McCormick and the Haralabidis sisters from Greece, Britt wasn’t even supposed to get in that game. But Maddie Musselman, a freshman at the time and CdM’s current junior co-captain, was out with a broken wrist suffered in a freak bicycle accident.

“It was definitely really cool,” Britt said. “I think it was definitely a turning moment. I didn’t think I was going to play, and then I actually even had an impact on the game.”

Then, things changed again. Weeks later, Sam Bailey resigned after two years to take the boys’ and girls’ water polo coaching job at Beckman.

Bailey’s cousin, Ross Sinclair, was named head coach. Britt had earned a starting spot for her junior year, but something was different. Both coach and player recognized it.

“It was a change,” Sinclair said. “There was a new coach. Obviously with what [Aaron] Chaney had done and with Sam being my cousin, we’re all still different. There were some things and styles that I had that were different from the past, which is natural. It was probably harder for some people to adapt to.

“I think with her, there was a couple of moments that I was pushing her. That’s something I do a lot, push the players and try to get the best out of them. I think that was kind of different for her, me doing that directly to her and her being a junior. I just saw a lot of potential in her. I think for her, it was a little difficult hearing it constantly from the coach, especially being on the team she was on her sophomore year, where she wasn’t necessarily in the spotlight because of that senior-based team.”

One thing that Sinclair admired about Britt was her competitive nature, though. She still had a very productive season, finishing third on CdM in goals, assists and steals and garnering first-team All-Pacific Coast League, second-team All-CIF Division 1 and Newport-Mesa Dream Team honors.

“It was a really important year for me personally, just because there was a lot of room to step up,” Britt said. “A lot of our seniors hadn’t seen a lot of playing time, and a couple of them aren’t playing [in college]. There was a lot of room for anyone to step up, and I think I definitely took advantage of that. I did what I could to impact the team.”

Musselman, who has competed with the U.S. senior national women’s water polo team, earned Newport-Mesa Player of the Year honors as CdM advanced to the Division 1 quarterfinals before losing in sudden-death overtime to Santa Barbara. She and Britt combine to form an extremely strong duo on the “one-two” (left) side of the pool. But there’s more than just the talent at play.

“You don’t see a smile on their face during the games,” Sinclair said. “They’re tenacious. That’s Eliza in a nutshell, she’s tenacious. She’s intense, she’s competitive, she’s fierce. She won’t back down from anyone. She’s tough. She’s one of those players that I think a lot of people don’t like going up against.”

Britt stepped up again last July. She earned MVP honors as CdM, playing without Musselman, won the Under 18 title at the Pan Pacific Youth Water Polo Festival in New Zealand.

Britt is currently enjoying a solid senior year, as the Sea Kings are on their way to their 16th consecutive Pacific Coast League title. She is second on CdM to Musselman in both goals (33) and steals (22).

She has been playing water polo since she was 9 years old, so you can bet that Britt wants to go out with a bang in high school. She has even been a good influence to her three younger siblings, all of whom — Nick (CdM sophomore), Carter (eighth grade) and Lily (fourth grade) — play water polo now.

“I remember Lily used to get dragged along to all of our games,” Eliza Britt said. “She would say, ‘I’m never going to play this sport.’ Now she is, so I think it’s kind of cool. I’d definitely rather watch them go play water polo than any other sport.”

They can enjoy watching their older sister, who’s also a good example academically. Eliza has a 3.8 weighted grade-point average and has taken six Advanced Placement courses at CdM, including the AP Biology, AP Statistics and AP Economics/Government courses in which she’s currently enrolled.

This time of year, studying water polo film is also important. Britt said she would love to get another shot at Foothill or Newport Harbor in the Irvine Southern California Championships. The Sea Kings lost to the Knights in overtime, 11-9, in their only previous meeting this year in a Holiday Cup semifinal match.

“I would love to play Newport or Foothill, and beat either of them,” Britt said. “I know we can. Putting that together in the last tournament of the season would be really cool. We’ve lost to both of them in overtime, and so just one little thing here or there could change that, I think.”

Less static, more movement. That’s what Britt wants for the Sea Kings. And she’s obviously a key player if they are to make that happen.

“I think what people don’t realize is that she’s actually a really good two-meter defender,” Sinclair said. “[Michigan-bound senior] Sami Pratt does a good job, obviously Maddie does a great job with that as well. But I have no problem putting Eliza in there to guard. There were times last summer that she was having to guard the best players, then go down and attack the best players, and she was doing that. She’s a complete player. She can do things on both sides, which is what makes her important for us.”

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Eliza Britt

Born: July 22, 1997

Hometown: Newport Beach

Height: 5-foot-7

Sport: Water polo

Year: Senior

Coach: Ross Sinclair

Favorite food: “Phish food” ice cream

Favorite movie: “Country Strong”

Favorite athletic moment: As a sophomore, helping CdM win the 2012-13 CIF Southern Section Division 1 title.

Week in review: Britt, a senior co-captain, had a combined four goals and five steals as CdM picked up league wins against Beckman and Northwood.