Ex-runner turned water polo star powers Gulliver girls back to state tournament
In middle school, Kathleen Serig was a top-10-in-the-state type cross-country runner.
But as a freshman at Gulliver Prep, she hurt her right foot, and everything changed.
“I would heal,” Serig said, “and then get injured again.”
Serig’s brother, Connor – who now plays club water polo at Florida State University – convinced her to try his sport.
Good idea.
Serig, a junior who leads Gulliver in goals (109), assists (43) and exclusions drawn (31), will lead the Raiders in the state water polo semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m. at Miami’s Belen Jesuit high school. Second-seeded Gulliver (20-3) will play third-seeded West Orange (24-5).
In the other semifinal on Friday at Belen, top-seeded Seminole (29-0) will play fourth-seeded and heavy underdog Miami Country Day (13-8) at 3:30 p.m.
Gulliver is 1-0 against West Orange this season, beating the Warriors 8-6 on March 8, and Serig is a big reason why the Raiders have been successful with a no-seniors roster this season.
“It took a lot for me to go from a land sport to water polo,” Serig said.
Before Serig ever tried out for Gulliver’s team, she practiced her new sport with her brother in the family’s backyard pool in the Kendall area.
“He prepared me,” Serig said of her brother, who is flying down from Tallahassee in time to see Friday’s semifinals. “Learning from him was huge. He taught me different techniques.
“Even now, I will send him clips, and he will break it down and analyze it. He gives me positive feedback, but he also always gives me something I can improve on.”
Serig, who danced ballet for eight years before switching to sports, said she still incorporates some degree of running into her workouts.
Even so, she is grateful she found water polo. In fact, she has been talking with college water polo coaches about potentially playing in California, where the sport is strong.
Serig has known Gulliver coach Carroll Vaughan for years. Since Connor played club water polo for Vaughan, the coach would routinely try to convince his kid sister to try water polo.
For years, she refused.
“I wish I had listened to her and started sooner,” Serig said. “She’s always right.”
Vaughan is so right, in fact, that she also has her boys’ team in position to win its sixth state title and its first since 2021.
Friday’s state semifinals, also at Belen, will feature top-seeded Orlando Dr. Phillips (28-2) against fourth-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas (16-12) at 6:30 p.m. Second-seeded Gulliver (20-4) will play third-seeded Seminole (21-8) at 8 p.m.
Aquinas, the defending state champions, lost to Dr. Phillips 16-6 on Feb. 23.
Gulliver beat Seminole twice in February, winning 14-7 and 11-10.
Senior Gabriel Lewis, who said he is expecting to play water polo at Pepperdine University next year as, essentially, an invited walk-on, leads Gulliver in goals (91), assists (38) and steals (80).
Sophomore Sebastian Piedra, who serves as Gulliver’s sixth man, is another player to watch. Piedra has 45 goals, 40 steals and 22 steals, and he also leads the squad with 29 exclusions drawn.
If the top seeds hold, Gulliver will seek revenge against a Dr. Phillips team that is 3-0 against the Raiders this season, winning 14-11, 14-9 and 12-11.
“I hope we can make the final,” Vaughan said. “I want the opportunity to play Dr. Phillips again.”
THIS AND THAT
▪ Senior Valeria Villanueva leads Miami Country Day in goals with 65. Briana Dunn is second in goals (46) while topping the squad in steals (69) and assists (35). MCD was 2-7 in early March, but the Spartans will enter the state semifinals on an eight-game win streak.
▪ The girls’ team at Lake Nona, which had won the past three straight state titles, was upset by Olympia in the regional quarterfinals. Lake Nona finished with a 17-4 record.
▪ The Aquinas boys team, which endured a pair of four-game losing streaks this season, is led by sophomore Samuel Eastbaugh, who. tops the team in goals (107) and assists (60). Sophomore Lev Konnikov leads the team in steals (60) and ranks second in goals (103).