Bill Barnett Holiday Cup returns this weekend

The area’s top high school girls’ water polo teams will ring in 2025 this weekend with a significant tournament.

The 16-team Bill Barnett Holiday Cup starts Friday and boasts many of the top girls’ water polo teams in the CIF Southern Section.

Orange Lutheran (5-0), which has won the Open Division title each of the past two years, is the top seed and also two-time defending Holiday Cup champion. Westlake Village Oaks Christian (6-0) is the No. 2 seed for the tournament, which will be hosted by Corona del Mar and Foothill high schools this year as the Newport Harbor pool is under renovation.

Newport Harbor (8-1) opens the tournament with a match against Los Angeles Marlborough on Friday at 10:40 a.m. at Foothill. Should the Sailors win, they’d play the Foothill-Beckman winner at 4:05 p.m. in a quarterfinal match.

The Sailors boast top returners like senior attackers Harper Price (a Cal commit) and Caitlin Stayt (UC San Diego), as well as senior goalkeeper Lydia Soderberg (UC Santa Barbara).

Corona del Mar (8-0) plays Laguna Beach (0-5) in the teams’ first match of the tournament, at 9:35 a.m. Friday at CdM. It’s a rematch of the season opener, in which freshman center Camryn Spruill scored the game-winner as host CdM rallied for an 8-7 victory.

Center Reagan Weir (Stanford), left-handed attacker Didi Evans (Princeton) and goalkeeper Gabby MacAfee (Loyola Marymount) are among the top seniors for CdM. Laguna Beach also has a top senior trio in attackers Presley Jones (UCLA) and Kara Carver (USC), plus goalkeeper Siena Jumami (UC Santa Barbara).

The winner of Friday’s Bill Barnett Holiday Cup opener between the Sea Kings and Breakers will likely face top-seeded Orange Lutheran in a tournament quarterfinal match at 1:55 p.m. Friday at CdM.

The tournament semifinals are scheduled for Saturday at 10:40 a.m. and 11:45 a.m., respectively, at CdM, with the title match at 4:05 p.m.