After finishing the regular season with a 10-4 record and winning the South Puget Sound League East Division, the Auburn Mountainview girls water polo squad capped its 2009 campaign with a third-place finish at the Washington State water polo tournament.

The Lions, ranked No. 3 at the beginning of the season, went 3-1 in the tourney, conducted this past weekend. Auburn Mountainview lost to the eventual state champion, Curtis, in the first round then defeated Puyallup, Rogers and Wilson to clinch third place in the eight-team tourney.

According to coach Dannette Schreib, who has helmed the program since its inception three years ago, she knew she had the makings of a winner before the season started.

“The expectation was to go to state,” she said. “We didn’t start thinking about how we would do at state until almost the end of the season, but in the beginning it was definitely our goal to go to state.”

Schreib said a realignment of the divisions, with the Lions placed in the SPSL East with Enumclaw, Auburn, Auburn Riverside, Bonney Lake and Sumner, helped the team this season.

“With three divisions instead of two, we knew we could win our division,” she said. “That gives you a higher seeding coming into state, which really helps.”

In addition to their success as a team, several individual players were honored with league all-star selections, with Stephanie Bluhm and Tess Rumbaugh earning first team nods, and Corey Smith and Amanda Nuttal garnering selections to the second team. Amy Scott, Elise Ranson and Laura Caudill were selected as honorable mentions, and Schreib was chosen as coach of the year.

“I’m very (proud) it’s actually the highest placing for any Auburn school in water polo ever, it’s very exciting,” she said.