Her muscles are sore. 

Savana Slaughter’s heart is beating as she sits on the bench, recovering from her first water polo practice. Teammate Riya Meghani stands in front of her in the locker room of the Aquatic Center East. Slaughter has two practices before her first game as the goalie, but she tells Meghani she doesn’t think she can do it. 

“Just give it a try,” Meghani says.

She tries, and ends up loving it. 

Now a senior, Slaughter has helped lead the team to making it to regional finals this season, despite only beginning to play water polo in February of her sophomore year. 

“The thing about being a goalie is it is all [about] mentality,” Slaughter said. “[As a goalie] I am in an eight [foot] by three [foot] cage that I protect on my own. I jump, I come out, I block and throw the ball. I [consider myself] the last line of defense.” 

Slaughter joined because of a suggestion from her swim coach. She said that her nine years of swimming and unique physical build, being six feet tall, made her a candidate for the team. 

“My sophomore year, my coach was pushing really hard for me to be on the water polo team,” Slaughter said. “He pulled me in the office and told me he thought I could be really good at this and asked me if I would give it a try. I had two days of training from the boy’s goalie who [had] never taught anybody — I didn’t understand a single thing and felt super defeated.” 

Her teammates, such as Meghani, stepped in and kickstarted what Slaughter said is her love for the sport. 

“At the beginning, Savana couldn’t throw the ball half court,” Meghani said. “Now, she’s been making full court shots and [has] brought a lot of positive energy into the team. She’s really good at communicating, motivating us and telling us to never give up.” 

Slaughter said she loves being in water polo because of the team aspect of the sport. 

“[I came] from swim, where you’re all alone and you don’t talk to anybody,” Slaughter said. “Playing with a team and everyone using their strengths as one is really interesting and fun.”

Slaughter’s goalie coach, Alegra Alvarez, was also a helping hand on her goalie journey. Slaughter said that her coach is like a mentor and taught her that it’s OK to learn, listen and make mistakes. 

“Savana’s a super quick learner and a super hard worker,” Alvarez said. “She has what every goalie coach would aspire for a goalie to have: a very positive, bounce back attitude. She’s an overall great kid. I say ‘jump’ and she says ‘how high’— she’s grown so much from when she started.” 

Slaughter said she is thinking of majoring in business. She plans to continue water polo into college at institutions such as Iona University and McKendree University, both of which are D1 teams. Becoming a D1 athlete is the highest form of competition and is her major goal. 

“I started from the ground up,” Slaughter said. “I couldn’t even get out of the water [when I started], but I’ve grown so much. It helped me work with people better, learn more efficiently, take criticism and support others. Overall, it’s made me such a better person.”