The girls’ water polo team scrimmaged against the Mexico Women’s Senior National Team at home Oct. 6. The national team trained at the school in preparation for the 2023 Pan American Games, which will be hosted in Santiago, Chile.

Mexico national team coach Omar Montiel Guttierez said the team came to the U.S. to play new competition.

“The experience that we’ll get as a team is my favorite part because, in Mexico, we don’t have these kinds of games every weekend,” Guttierez said. “The point of this is to get experience with other teams, so we can prepare for the [Pan American Games].”

Girls’ water polo program head Laura Lopez said even though the Wolverines fell behind in the scrimmage, the matchup gave the team an opportunity to measure their skills before the winter season.

“It was really neat to see everyone playing together and see what our strengths and weaknesses are before we even got into the season,” Lopez said. “So now we know that power plays and counter-attacks, offensively and defensively, are what we need to work on. Those were some weak points, but we also had some really good moments. In the beginning, we were neck and neck with the [Mexico national team].”

Lopez, who is going into her first season as head coach, said she is looking forward to the start of the season.

“I’m excited to get games going,” Lopez said. “The rankings just came out. We’re back in Division 1, and I think we have a tough schedule ahead, but I’m ready for it, and I think the girls are super excited and ready for it as well.”