By Ed Piper
Differentiating between her two goalies, La Jolla coach Amy Jennings said sophomore Maricarmen "M.C." Rendon has pool vision to see who is where, to anticipate as a play by the opposing offense is developing. "She sees," is the way the coach put it. M.C. wasn't eligible last year due to grades.
The other goalie, Shauna Franke, also a sophomore, is quick. The two goalies have different skills, both effective in the cage. "They're going to split time for a while," said Jennings. "They're pretty equal right now."
Commenting on her starters and returners, the coach said about returning senior Leslie Rendon, M.C.'s older sister: "Oh, gosh, Maturity. Experience. Kind of even, a level-headedness. Grounded. Composed.
"You wouldn't expect it. She comes out of nowhere. Everybody is focused on (teammate) Jensine (Bugelli on offense). Then Leslie comes, silent. There's a word for it." A reporter suggests, "Stealth?" "Stealth," agrees Jennings.
"She's really good with the team at practice. She'll see something and correct it. She doesn't score all the goals, but she's the glue" (holding her hands together). "We're going to do a team vote on captains." The intimation was that the elder Rendon would be a likely candidate, with the coach holding a big vote on the final selection of captains.
Of Bugelli, a junior returner, Jennings said: "She's fierce. She's fast. She is a machine. She just never quits.
"She never seems to get tired. There's some players who have to take a breather. Not her.
"'Two-two.' We have a term in water polo. Jensine is going to be our two-meter. The majority of girls all fill in where we need them. We don't have set positions. Maybe the set position (for a particular player) doesn't present itself until junior or senior year. But with Jensine, she's (fixed) at two-meter."
In an aside, Jennings, still an active player in adult leagues, calls herself a "field player, perimeter, anywhere."
Regarding junior Katy Koenig, the coach offered: "Yes, I like her. She's awesome. She's an amazing two-meter defender. She brings a unity, as well--teamwork and selflessness.
"She's like our two-meter defender on defense, but when we transition, she's our point (on offense). She can see things. She can feed the pass and score the touchdown."
Said Jennings, "I like football, so I use a lot of analogies (from that sport). If we have nothing, sometimes she'll take the ball" (and score).
"Last year she was a sophomore starter, so a two-year starter."
The coach on senior Julie Shriver, who was in the rotation last year as a junior: "She's definitely come a long way. She's super strong. I think her whole game awareness has increased from last year. She played in the offseason. She drew an ejection down there (in the team's scrimmage against Rancho Bernardo). She's going to do great."
About Shauna Franke in the first half of the RBHS scrimmage: What did you see? What did you like? Jennings: "Communication. She was doing a good job communicating. I heard her. She was calling out defenses."
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