DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:

Taped on a cabinet door inside the team room for the Corona del Mar High girls’ water polo program is a piece of paper, laminated. Nine goals are listed, but there’s one dominant achievement wanted. Though it seems subtly placed as a bullet item under a cliche at No. 8 — [Take] one game at a time — the power of two words comes through.

“CIF champs,” is listed with a bullet.

Everyone on the varsity team knows that’s the ultimate goal. All the girls signed the sheet, scribbling their names on various parts of the paper. It comes as no coincidence that the CdM seniors came up with the goals for the team. They’re the ones expected to lead.

One of those seniors, Elise Molnar, is doing her best to make it happen. Though there is a wealth of talent on the Sea Kings’ roster, Molnar stands out as the one who typifies the team the most. A valuable defender a year ago, she became aggressive on offense this season.

But in the simple words from CdM Coach Aaron Chaney the similarity between Molnar and the Sea Kings is found.

“She’s playing with more confidence,” Chaney said.

Last year, most of the CdM players say, the Sea Kings weren’t really expected to win the CIF Southern Section Division I title. But this year, they know they belong in the title game and they believe they are capable of capturing their first CIF Division I title, which seemingly slipped through their hands in the final last year.

Molnar is certainly playing with purpose. She’s making sure to follow goal No. 7 on that list made up by the seniors.

Always all in.

That was her last weekend at the Irvine Southern California Championships, making key contributions that helped bring the Sea Kings their first title at the prestigious tournament.

She scored eight goals in the five games. In the semifinal against Los Alamitos, she connected for the game-winner with 25 seconds left in Corona del Mar’s 5-4 victory.

Molnar scored two goals in the Sea Kings’ 8-7 win over Dos Pueblos for the title. She was named to the all-tournament team.

“It was really cool,” Molnar said of CdM winning the title after finishing second four times in the 14th annual tournament. “It’s cool, especially because we like to look back on what past CdM teams have done. Now others can look back on that tournament and see that we won it.”

If CdM players look a little closer they might find out more about what’s under that cap No. 11.

A braniac?

A nerd?

Molnar just laughs and plays along when friends or even Chaney playfully tease her about her strong commitment to academics.

Usually, she can be seen studying math before water polo practice near the pool at CdM.

Some might think with a 4.4 cumulative grade-point average, Molnar’s senior year would be a bit easier than her previous three years. But this would be her most difficult.

She’s taking four advanced placement courses, including biology, English literature, chemistry and calculus.

“[Just the other day at practice] I was doing math and [Chaney] was saying I was nerdy,” Molnar said with a laugh. “I just told him he was jealous. It doesn’t bother me.

“I guess I am a little nerdy.”

That doesn’t seem to matter much, considering Molnar is headed to Harvard, where she will also play water polo. That’s right, Molnar is making it count in the classroom too.

She said she has a 4.8 GPA this year. She doesn’t know where that ranks in her class, a sign that’s not what really matters most.

“I know a lot of people in my class who take more a lot more [advanced placement courses] than me,” Molnar said. “But I play a lot more water polo than they do.”

Yet, Molnar also finds time to direct her own club at school that she started last year. It’s called Club MD, for students who want to go into the medical field. The club has grown to up to 25 people this year, she said.

In the spring, she’ll compete in swimming.

“I like being active,” she said. “Sitting down makes me feel anxious.”

Molnar also applies her strength when she hits the books to her prowess when she makes a splash in the pool.

Whenever she studies for a big test, she never crams. Instead she’ll memorize chunks of the subject leading up to the test.

The same goes for a big water polo game. Sure she’s thinking about she needs to do minutes before a game, but she enters prepared.

“I think you need to prepare in advance,” Molnar said. “If you go into a game or a challenge with too much on your mind, you’re going to get caught up and make a mistake.”

Molnar and the Sea Kings are hoping for no mistakes the rest of the way. They want to follow goal No. 6: To be consistent.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at [email protected].