Sports, Women's Sports, Women's Volleyball

LBSU’s Jessica Brooks discusses hopes for 2016 season

The players on the Long Beach State women’s water polo team don’t just come from California, they don’t even all come from the U.S.

The roster shows LBSU has players from Spain, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand and Australia, home to team captain, senior Jessica Brooks. Brooks said that despite their diverse backgrounds, they are unified by the sport.

LBSU just earned their first win against the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Feb. 7. They put on a display of dominance, defeating the Athenas 20-5, making their record 1-4. The win may be the boost the team needs. A lack of confidence is their greatest obstacle, Brooks said.

Kicking off her third season at LBSU, Brooks sat down with the Daily 49er to reflect on her move to California and how the team is shaping up.

There are several international students on the team. How did you find yourself at Long Beach State?

I reached out to a few coaches of mine in Australia and they put me on with Liz and Gavin. And I just started talking to [them] and I really wanted to come somewhere in California and I wanted to go somewhere competitive but not some big name “USC” school that is all about money and not really about the game. Long Beach seemed to be a perfect fit for me. It was close to the beach, and it’s a nice area. It’s pretty central in California, and I love the people here.

How do you like living in Southern California so far?

I love it. It’s pretty similar to where I’m from, like a small kind of beach city, and the weather’s awesome. The people are so friendly. When I first got here everyone was so welcoming and it pretty much feels like a second home now.

So you just got your first win, and the score was 20-5, what clicked for the team offensively?

I think we gained a lot of confidence and we weren’t hesitating as much as we usually do. We were going for looks as they came up, and really had each others backs, and giving good passes and then finishing our shots.

What’s going to be the team’s biggest obstacle this season?

I think we have the ability, and we’ve put in the hard work, and we’re killing it at practice. We have amazing shooters, we have amazing defense, we have everything we need to excel but we just need to believe in ourselves. I think that’s the only area where we’re lacking because when we go back and watch film, we’re dominating games. We’re just not finishing off our shots and we have the skill to do it.

Do you have some sort of strategy in mind for building that confidence?

We pretty much have to do it ourselves. We have to believe in ourselves and you know if someone’s having a bad day it’s our job to build them up and put the confidence in each other as well as have it in ourselves.

What is this team doing well?

We definitely all want to be here, and we’re definitely putting in the time and effort, and [have] commitment to what we’re doing. We’re all friends and we get along in and out of the pool so that helps team cohesion a lot. We have looks that we know are going to be there, and we’re  just playing consistent water polo and that allows us to improve as the season goes along.

What can the team improve on?

Just the confidence and having that aggression to go for shots and go for passes that we might be hesitant to take because it’s a 50/50, but we need to have that confidence to do it.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.

Daily 49er newsletter

Instagram