MAKING A BIG SPLASH : HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS FIELD OWN WATER POLO TEAMS FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Byline: Doug Kezirian Special to the Daily News

At this time last year, Harvard-Westlake High School's Liz Blase was a fencer, Jenny Bruno was preparing for softball and Monica Paz was swimming.

Then came news that the Southern Section was starting girls' water polo, with Harvard-Westlake one of the first schools to offer the program. The three athletes signed up, as have hundreds of other girls throughout Southern California.

This winter, 110 schools are fielding girls' water polo teams for the first time. The sport has a good chance of succeeding because schools are looking to fulfill gender-equity standards in athletics. And the sport is popular among girls, too.

``At both the high school and college level, it is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country,'' Thousand Oaks coach Jeff Warshaw said. ``An even bigger increase in interest is certain to occur in the Southern California area, the heart of the aquatic world.''

Most girls are playing water polo for the first time. However, veterans do exist because they played on boys' teams. As a result, the recruiting process within schools has played a major role in building programs. Athletes who would be training for swimming, softball or even tennis are being introduced to water polo.

``You first have to recruit people who are decent swimmers, and then you have to teach them a difficult sport,'' Louisville coach Stacy Smith said. ``Our girls never had the opportunity to play before because we are a single-sex school.''

Coaches who taught boys' water polo are now doubling as girls' coaches.

``The major difference is that the girls are more emotional than the boys, but they are better listeners,'' Warshaw said. ``This year, coaches have to make adjustments during the game to keep everybody focused.''

In order for a CIF-sanctioned sport to have a postseason and be designated into divisions, a sport must have more than 110 participating schools. When the Southern Section surveyed schools last spring, only about 60 replied positively. A larger response followed in the summer, but it was too late to establish a divisional and playoff system, according to Southern Section administrator Bill Clark.

``The interest has continued and strengthened the chance of playoffs for next year,'' Clark said. ``Things have really snowballed.''

Crescenta Valley, Harvard-Westlake, Louisville and Thousand Oaks are considered the early top programs in the area. Other schools competing are Alemany, Burroughs, La Canada, Newbury Park and Westlake. Come next season, when playoffs begin, they'll find out how they match up against the powers in Orange County.

The high school level is not the first to offer water polo to both genders. Women's water polo at the collegiate level has grown rapidly over the past three years, with at least 30 schools having varsity teams. That creates more opportunities for scholarship offers. And soon, the NCAA is expected to officially sanction the sport for championship competition.

``Girls' water polo has taken off and made the recruiting process much easier,'' said UCLA women's coach Guy Baker, who guided the men's and women's teams to national championships.

``Scholarships are definitely available, but the number depends on each school.''

Former U.S. Olympic coach Rich Corso, who coaches boys' and girls' water polo at Harvard-Westlake, said there is great hope for girls' water polo.

``For athletic departments to balance out their sports teams and to come in compliance with Title IX, sports like water polo have been flourishing, mainly because most Division I and II teams have pools, and because water polo is great cross-training for their swim teams,'' he said. ``It is similar to men's water polo in the early '70s when you would get a lot of student-athletes to compete in two sports.''

Since 1980, several Olympic committees have been trying to advance women's international water polo, which is only at the exhibition stage. However, it could become an Olympic sport as soon as the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

``The sport has taken off because there are more men and women playing than ever before,'' Corso said. ``For water polo to really skyrocket, two things have to occur: The NCAA has to sanction a championship and the International Olympic Committee, along with the organizing committee, has to make women's water polo a medal sport. Once that happens, there is no stopping water polo.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Chart

Photo: Nina Simon, readying to pass, is a charter member of Harvard-Westlake's water polo team, which began competing this year.

Tom Mendoza / Daily News

Chart: Top water polo players