The emotion that filled Alexie Lambert’s eyes after the Aussie Stingers lost their World Aquatics Water Polo Finals semi final to the USA  10-6 in Sydney, was far greater than the obvious disappointment of being defeated.

Lambert, who is renowned for baking scrumptious treats such as caramel slices for her teammates, felt a surge of emotion as she spoke about the way in which each member of the Stingers squad gives everything they can of themselves to the team.

“We all are just playing for each other,” said Lambert, a New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder. “We’re trying to set each other up, we all want each other to finish each goal, we all want to go out there and give the best block, or channel the ball to the goalkeeper.

“We are all doing it for each other, the whole thing  . . . from the coaches, players, everyone is working for each other and giving each other everything they can.

“We’ve all become sisters and I couldn’t be prouder being a part of this team. I think [it is special]  because we’re all unique; we all come together and have each other’s back . . . we’re just so happy to be around each other.

“I haven’t been in a team that felt like this before at any level.”

Lambert described her first taste of playing in a semi final at international level as ‘insane,’ but described taking on the Americans as an experience she’d carry with her.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the girls,” she said. “It was an amazing environment, we gave it our all, but America put it out today. They came out, and we couldn’t have given it a better shot.”

 Lambert and her ‘sisters’ certainly gave all they could against the three-time Olympic gold medallists in a rugged affair – think a game of rugby being played in deep water! The opening quarter was as tough as it was tight, but America’s attaining a 2-0 lead late in that quarter proved too much for the home team to chase down – as hard as they tried.

Paris Olympian Sienna Hearn (NSWIS) scored two goals for the Stingers, but later admitted the Aussies paid the price from straying from their pre-match plan.

“We always have a tough battle with the US, they’re a really strong, technical, fast team, and so are we – so it’s always a good match up,” said Hearn. “We went in there with a bit of plan, and we kind of swayed away from that a bit, so that’s a bit disappointing on our end. 

“We tried to focus on just playing our game, and not worrying about the past or the future, and focus on the moment. It was awesome to play with the home crowd; it was just a bit disappointing that we didn’t get away with the win.

Hearn added she and the  Stingers squad would require time to digest both the result before resetting their sites for Sunday’s bronze medal match against Russia. 

“We’ll give ourselves some time to reflect and feel the emotions of that loss because that’s the nature of sport,” she said. “Then we’ve got to flip our mindset to the next game, focus on what we need to do and fine tune those mistakes that we were making today.”

The Stingers take on Russia for third and fourth place on Sunday at 12:45pm. The USA and Spain will contest the gold medal match.

Lambert, however, made it clear to what has so far been a passionate and loud home crowd they could rest assured that with a  bronze medal on the line the Stingers were braced for the challenge.

“Bloody oath we are,” Lambert vowed.  “And you bet we’ll give it our best shot.”

Daniel Lane, NSWIS

Tags Alexie LambertSienna Hearn
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