Another season, another player of the year honor for the Seminole High School girls water polo team.
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It’s not a surprise since the Seminoles were an undefeated state champ for the second time in three years, going 31-0 and defeating West Orange 8-4 in the state championship game.
Unlike the past two years, though, it was not Halle Zimlich. She earned the last two Orlando Sentinel Girls Water Polo Player of the Year awards, but this year she was recovering from a torn labrum suffered last summer.
Zimlich still had a very good season statistically, but her teammate who also made the all-area team the past two years, Vivian Swain, moved into the role of team leader to earn the player of the year honor for 2026.
“In the offseason, Vivian knew she needed to step up, especially in the mental game,” Seminole coach Ryan Ackerson said. “She was needed to do more in some games.”
The increased responsibilities carried over to practices and being more of a leader in general.
“Stepping into a bigger leadership role was something I really embraced at the start of the season,” Swain said. “I focused on setting the tone in games and practices while being vocal for my teammates, especially the younger ones. The upperclassmen and I all emphasized a good work ethic and looking out for our teammates because we knew it was necessary to help us achieve our goal of a state championship.”
Besides leading Seminole in goals with 121, she was third in the state in assists with 87, and added 40 steals.
“They’ve always been 1A and 1B on our team,” Ackerson said of Swain and Zimlich. “If you put either of them on any other team, they’d be the best player on that team.”
They’ll now continue to be teammates on the FSU club water polo team in college.
“Halle and I going to FSU was not planned at all,” Swain said. “I don’t think either of us would have thought at the beginning of the year that we would end up there, but it worked out great. We’ve spent so many years playing together, so we are definitely excited to play on the club while getting an amazing education.”
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Players of the year and Sentinel standouts are selected by the Sentinel staff with input from area coaches. Athletes represent schools eligible for the FHSAA state series from Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake and southwest Volusia counties.
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Sentinel Standouts
Tori Adamo, Winter Park, Sr.
She improved in all stats from her junior year with 92 goals, 41 assists and 30 steals to finish her high school career.
Sadie Allinson, Lake Mary, Soph.
In her first year as the full-time goalie, she had 196 saves, 8.1 goals against average, 13 assists and 28 steals.
Kate Beracoechea, West Orange, Sr.
She led the state’s second-best team with 131 goals and added 39 assists (170 points) and 66 steals.
Audrey LaPlant, West Orange, Jr.
She had 111 saves for 5.3 saves per game while giving up just 4.5 goals per game, and she added 12 assists and 34 steals.
Julia Pando, Seminole, Jr.
As one of the state’s top goalies, she led the champs with 198 saves, 3.87 goals against average, 44 assists and 25 steals.
Bree Patrolia, West Orange, Jr.
She was a perfect complement to her teammate, Beracoechea, with 93 goals, 50 assists and a team-high 80 steals.
Halle Zimlich, Seminole, Sr.
As she recovered from an injury last summer, she had 88 goals, 41 assists and 64 steals for the undefeated state champs.
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at [email protected].
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