UPDATE: Everybody Is Looking to Upset the Griffins, but What Else Is New?

(Update at 5:15 p.m. Friday: Foothill defeated Los Alamitos, 11-10, in overtime of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs at Ocean View High, according to this report in the O.C. Register.)

Los Alamitos High sees its share of athletic success in almost every sport in almost every season, but no team has the same weight of expectations on it as the 2010-11 Griffins' girls water polo team.

Ever since Los Alamitos won the California State High School Championships with a 6-5 victory over favored Corona del Mar last summer, it has been a marked squad. The Griffins began and ended the season as the top-ranked team in the county, according to the O.C. Register. Likewise, it spent the entire season ranked No. 2 behind Dos Pueblos in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 coaches' poll.

Many will be surprised if the Griffins don't play the Chargers for the division championship on Feb. 26 in Irvine.

“These girls have had a big target on their back all year," Los Alamitos coach Dave Carlson said. "And they’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations but mine. I knew what they were capable of.”

Los Alamitos opened the season with an impressive 19-2 victory over Irvine and hasn't taken its foot off the accelerator yet, capping a 24-3 regular-season record with a 17-1 victory over Huntington Beach, cruising to a 5-0 record in the Sunset League.

If that’s not impressive enough, the Griffins have scored in double digits 20 times, netting an average of nearly 13 goals per game while holding opponents to an average of four.

Sure, there have been hiccups along the way, but only three: a 13-9 loss to Dos Pueblos on Dec. 17, a 5-4 loss to Santa Barbara on Jan. 15 and an 8-7 loss to Laguna Beach on Feb. 4 in the quarterfinals of the Irvine Southern California Championships.

But none of those setbacks dropped the Griffins in either of ranking or poll, and they opened the Division 1 playoffs on Wednesday as the second-seeded team with a 17-5 victory over Beckman.

With so many blowout victories some teams might have a tendencey to become complacent, taking success for granted even before jumping into the pool. But not this one.

Much of their work ethic stems from Carlson’s no-nonsense, hard-working, never-give-in approach to the game. As some of his players will tell you, he is tough, but they say they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“That’s just lactic acid build up, the burn will go away!” shouts Carlson during the Griffins' Thursday workout. “Let’s go! Back in the water!” 

There was little time to celebrate the team’s first-round playoff victory, as the Griffins were hard at work preparing for today’s quarterfinal match against Century League champion Foothill (17-10-0) at Ocean View High at 3:30 p.m.

“That’s behind us, anyone in the CIF can win it,” said Carlson, downplaying his team's dismantling of Beckman, “Foothill is a tough team. Every single team [in the quarterfinals] is capable of winning.”

And he believes that, but he also recognizes the chip on the Griffins' shoulder because he put it there.

 “Coming into the season, we set the goal of winning the league and getting here,” he said. “These girls use it all as motivation every time out, and I think it shows.”

It is that type of work ethic that has shaped this team’s success and helped three of its members develop into players worthy of an even bigger spotlight.

Seniors and four-year starters Cory Dodson and goalkeeper Savanna Smith, as well as junior Rachel Fattal, are the Griffins' backbone, as well as being members of the U.S.  Junior National Team.

Dodson, who began the season playing with a broken bone in her hand, will follow in the footsteps her sister, Kaley, after signing a letter of intent to play for  Stanford next season. Smith, who has suffered with a torn ligament in her elbow all sesason and is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery in March, will play for California.

And during the summer state championship tournament, Carlson said of Fattal: “She’s the best [female] athlete I’ve coached.”

Smith said she was "quite proud of the Newport Harbor game since it was one of my best games with blocks and saves," referring to the 9-3 victory over the Lady Sailors on Jan. 19 that, for all intents and purposes, clinched the Sunset League title.

But the goalie is also quick to praise the performances of her field teammates: “Rachel and Cory are our MVP’s. They have had amazing seasons on offense and defense.”

While the Griffins are, indeed, blessed with loads of  talent in the pool, if they didn't believe in the man sitting on the pool deck, guiding their every move, none of their success would have been possible.

“He [Carlson] is the best coach I’ve ever played for,” Smith said. “He reminds us that it’s us in the pool, and that we just need to do it. “