West Orange water polo teams look towards postseason success after impressive regular season

West Orange High’s boys and girls water polo teams have built quite the legacy under longtime head coach Jennifer Dailer.

Dailer has led the Warriors since 2011. During that tenure, she has seen two significant changes to the water polo world that have helped West Orange achieve success.

One of the biggest opportunities for West Orange’s growth has been the acceleration of young water polo players joining the Orlando Thunder water polo club. Dailer said the club plays on the west side of Orlando, and the athletes have been feeding into West Orange’s program. 

This process has changed everything. West Orange’s boys and girls programs no longer rely on teaching the newcomers the fundamentals of the sport in their freshman year. Rather, they arrive with experience, confidence and a deep understanding of the game. Dailer said the players are developing at a higher level and faster because of that pre-existing knowledge. 

Structural changes in the Florida High School Athletic Association also have been a major part in West Orange’s postseason success. Previously, teams had to win their respective districts to advance. That’s difficult for the Warriors, whose district includes local powerhouse teams such as Dr. Phillips and Olympia high schools. Since 2021, the team’s in-season rankings determine their fate in the postseason. 

“As soon as they switched that, we’ve never not been in the regional tournament,” Dailer said. 

For senior water polo players and captains Bailey Patrolia on the boys team and Francesca Mastroianni on the girls team, the constant success has been a defining point in their high school water polo careers. Patrolia has played for seven years, and Mastroianni for four, and they have seen how the team has grown together. 

Patrolia said the players have been working together for years between club and high school, which is what has translated into a strong team core and Mastroianni believes gives the Warriors an advantage.

“With the club, it’s easier for freshmen to come in because we already know them,” Mastroianni said. “It helps our team chemistry right off the bat.” 

The chemistry is shown by how supportive the team, both boys and girls, are of one another. Unlike many high school programs such as basketball, softball and baseball, where the teams practice separately, water polo breaks the barrier through the waves of the water. 

“That’s kind of different with our sport,” he said. “Most team sports are completely separate. Aquatics are not that way. We swim together; we play water polo together.” 

Mastroianni described it as one big family. 

The entire community is strong in general, Dailer said. When the teams played in South Florida, about 20 families traveled down to support the Warriors. Mastroianni said she’s most thankful for the support from everyone, outside of simply coaches and her teammates. 

“My freshman year, when I was new, whenever I got a goal or blocks, everyone would cheer for me,” she said. “It encouraged me to keep going.” 

The shared environment pushes all of the players to improve. Rather than simply practicing against their own roster of 15 on the girls team and 18 on the boys team, they are able to be challenged by more friendly competition. The shared practices are especially important for the girls team’s success. 

“I don’t think the boys go easy on us,” Mastroianni said. “It helps our level of competition because we are used to playing against harder people.” 

And it’s working. This year, the boys hold a 16-4 record, while the girls hold a 18-2 record at the end of the regular season — both improvements over last year’s tallies. Mastroianni credited the improvement to growing closer together. She said they have begun to rely on one another more, trust the ball in one another’s hands and became closer overall. 

For the boys team, continuity has been the most important piece of the pie, Patrolia said. The team only lost one senior last season and returned this year with strength in its numbers. It already had developed a foundation, and it has been about maintaining it and building within each practice. 

Even with the success, the road ahead won’t be easy. The girls team, ranked No. 4, has its head focused on a likely opponent, Seminole High, which has dominated in the state rankings in recent years and currently is ranked No. 1. The boys are looking at an even more unpredictable slate of games. 

“The top 10 teams in the state right now could all play with each other on the boys’ side,” Dailer said. 

Due to the unpredictable nature of West Orange boys team’s possible opposition, the team is preparing to adapt for each game uniquely rather than following a set game plan.