Costa Mesa girls' water polo routs Estancia to repeat as Orange Coast League champion

Costa Mesa's Taiuta Uiagalelei (6) holds the ball as Estancia's Cassie Corrigan (3) defends during an Orange Coast League match at home Wednesday.

By Matt SzaboStaff Writer

Feb. 5, 2020 6:39 PM PT

Malia Tufuga is going to Stanford for women’s volleyball, but that hasn’t stopped the Costa Mesa High senior from playing goalkeeper this season for the girls’ water polo team.

Tufuga has worked her way into a starting role. She is also a former baseball pitcher, and she showed off her arm strength as the Mustangs hosted rival Estancia on Wednesday in an Orange Coast League finale.

As junior captain Hanna Jackson swam down the pool on the counterattack in the third quarter, coach Dustin Serrano instructed Tufuga to hit her with a pass. What happened next wasn’t what Serrano meant, as Tufuga unleashed a powerful throw that hit Jackson right in the head.

“It was fun, but it was also payback,” Tufuga said with a laugh after the match. “You know, as a goalie you get a couple [of shots] to the head every once in a while in practices. It was a little bit of revenge.”

The Mustangs definitely had fun in the water. They claimed their second straight outright league title after routing the Eagles 19-2 in the Battle for the Bell match.

Costa Mesa's Kira Anderson rises up to shoot against Estancia during in an Orange Coast League match on Wednesday.

Concordia University-bound senior center Taiuta Uiagalelei had seven goals for Costa Mesa (20-6, 4-0 in league). Senior captain Sey Currie had four goals and freshman phenom Kira Anderson had three goals and five assists.

Junior defender Michelle Kiefer had two goals and four assists for the Mustangs, who needed to win as Estancia (18-9, 3-1) came into the match also tied for first place.

“It was nice to have a well put-together defensive game, especially with them being second-best in league,” Serrano said. “We understood that we had the task of coming in here and wanting to hold them to a shutout as long as possible. I thought the girls did a great job of doing that.”

Estancia was blanked until the fourth quarter, when sophomore Kara Hernandez and senior Sydni White finally scored. Tufuga made four saves before exiting in the third quarter, and freshman goalkeeper Dharma Andrea also made a pair of saves.

Angel Carlton had two goals, and Kayla Chaffins also scored for Costa Mesa.

Estancia got seven saves from junior goalkeeper Giannina Bauer. The Eagles were missing head coach Matt Frazier and one of its top players, senior Gidget Brestel. Assistant coach Amber Peters said that both missed the match due to sickness.

Both teams now prepare for the postseason. Costa Mesa is the top-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Division 5 poll, while Estancia will vie in Division 6.

“We’ve really been grinding,” Currie said. “I’m excited that all of our hard work is finally going to pay off next week, no matter how it ends.”