In the annual Amanda MacDonald Invitational Tournament, Menlo girls water polo defeated St. Ignatius but dropped three hard-fought games as it dealt with injuries throughout the tournament. Photo by Pam Tso McKenney.

By Baily Deeter 

Menlo hosted the annual Amanda MacDonald Invitational Tournament this weekend. The tournament is named after Menlo girls water polo alum MacDonald, who tragically died in a car crash when she was in college. Her parents attended the entire tournament in support of the cause.

The Knights defeated St. Ignatius 6-4 on the first day of the tournament but lost three hard-fought contests to St. Francis, Sobrato, and Burlingame. Throughout the tournament, the Knights dealt with injuries to multiple key players. Sophomore Annie Bisconti suffered a concussion during the tournament, sophomore Sophie Golub had to get stitches in her eye after taking an elbow to the face, and junior Mia Rosenblatt missed the tournament with a broken arm.

Menlo was powered by strong efforts from seniors Sarah Donato and Gillian Bressie. Donato, along with junior Meri Klingelhofer, scored two goals in the team’s victory over St. Ignatius. Bressie had six saves to pace the Menlo defense. 

The Knights entered the tournament with a 5-4 record after picking up a critical victory over Menlo-Atherton on Wednesday. Menlo, now sitting at 6-7, will have some time to get healthy this week. It plays Sequoia on Wednesday, and it then has a week to rest after that before taking on Castilleja the following Wednesday. 

As for the remainder of the tournament, Acalanes defeated Soquel 7-6 in a thrilling championship match.