Senior Marker Anderson and sophomore Grant Villeneuve, both of Atherton, led Deerfield Academy — a college preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts — to its first-ever New England Boys’ Water Polo Tournament championship recently, ending Phillips Exeter’s 10-year title streak.
Relying on a balanced scoring attack and effective team defense, Deerfield beat the Hotchkiss team 6-4 in the semifinals and Choate Rosemary Hall School 14-8 in the finals.
Anderson, the team’s leading scorer for the past three seasons, was named the tournament MVP. Villeneuve, the team’s second-leading scorer this season, earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
Earlier in the regular season, Deerfield had defeated top-ranked Exeter 9-3, handing their rivals their first league loss in 10 years.
Both Anderson and Villeneuve said the team’s four-day training camp in Atherton in late August with Jack Bowen, the Menlo School’s boys’ water polo coach, played a significant role in the championship pursuit.
Anderson, the son of Judy and John Anderson, will play for Princeton University next fall. Villeneuve is the son of Denise and Ray Villeneuve.
Villeneuve was a student at Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton for 12 years. He played water polo for Brian Kreutzkamp at SHP the last two years and played for the Stanford 16U team coached by Jon Barnea during the summer. He has been a member of the Stanford Water Polo Club for the last four years and will continue to play with them during the summer months.
Marker Anderson studied at Menlo School for two years and played water polo for Jack Bowen, the Menlo coach, prior to attending Deerfield Academy. During the summer months, he continues to play and train with the Menlo Water Polo Club team.
Coach Mark Scandling of Deerfield Academy contributed to this report.
