The Malibu High School girls’ water polo team held its annual banquet at the Malibu Country Club on Monday. The Sharks celebrated a season where they won the Tri-Valley League Championship and became the first team in school history to advance to the championship game of the CIF Southern Section Division Six Playoffs.
Senior Searra Silverberg was highly rewarded at the banquet for her hard work all season. Silverberg became the first Malibu girls’ water polo player to be named the CIF Most Valuable Player. She also earned her second straight League Most Valuable Player award. In addition, she was named the team’s Most Valuable Player, along with goalie Jordan White. Silverberg shattered the school record for most goals in a career with an astounding 129 goals, and set the school record for most goals in a single season, most goals in a single game and most assists in a career. She accomplished all this while playing through the pain of a torn shoulder labrum.
“Searra has a passion,” coach Tim Segesman said. “She wanted to be successful, and she fell in love with the sport of water polo. She figured out this is the sport she wanted to excel in, so, since her freshman year she has not been out of the pool for more than two weeks. She knew that she had to work hard to be as successful as she wanted to be, and that is what drove her. That is why she is going to be successful wherever she goes and in whatever she does. She is also a great leader.”
Silverberg, Gianna Fote, and Jordan White were named first-team All-CIF. Fote set the school record for the most assists in a single season, and White captured the school records for most blocks for a career, most blocks in a single season and most blocks in a single game. Katie Rollins made the second-team All-CIF, and Reilley Lippman was named third-team All-CIF.
Silverberg, Fote, White, and Rollins made the first-team All-Tri-Valley League. Lippman and Sophie Galate earned second-team All-League recognition. K.C. Dossett, Jennifer Tartavull and Brita Kiefer were named honorable mention All-League.
For the second straight season, coach Segesman was named the Tri-Valley League Coach of the Year.
“I think he really deserved it,” Rollins said. “Personally, he has taken me from a freshman who did not know how to play water polo to someone who could hold her own in the CIF finals.”
After losing three seniors last season, many people expected the Sharks to struggle this season. However, they dominated their league opponents, outscoring them 196-22, held rival Oaks Christian scoreless at home and finished the season with a 26-6 record.
“As a team, it is one of the best that I have ever coached,” Segesman said. “It is also one of the top teams that came together as friends. At first, these girls had several different cliques, but by the end they were one big unit.”
Silverberg added, “The girls put in a lot of hours. We did it as a team; it was not an individual thing.”
Next season, the Sharks will again have to replace three players, as Silverberg, Rollins and Kiefer will graduate.
They will be missed in and out of the pool. “I have seen them grow as individuals that I can be proud of,” Segesman said. “I have never seen a group of girls that are more ready to take on the challenges of life.”
With a core group of experienced juniors returning next season, the Sharks expect to compete strongly for their sixth consecutive undefeated league season, and to extend their streak of 56 straight league wins.
“We will build on the fundamentals and the team aspect,” Segesman said. “This is a team sport, and we need to work as a team. We need these girls to want it, and step up to the next level by working hard, setting goals and becoming better players.”