Sports teams thrive off of rivalries—competition drives athletes to work harder, to push their boundaries. Even though Marin Catholic, with its focus on athletics, is often perceived to be Redwood’s main rival, individual sports have developed different rivalries with other schools.

Boys’ varsity soccer

The varsity soccer rivalry with Marin Catholic has been present long before today’s players attended Redwood. Besides their major rivalry with Marin Catholic, the boys’ soccer team’s major rivals include Tam and Drake.

Rivalries with these teams, in contrast to Marin Catholic, have started in more recent years because of the tough competition they have put up against Redwood. According to Pfeiffer, the whole team scouts the tougher teams in MCAL, and takes notes that get handed in to the coach. At the practice before the game, the team works on different tactics that the players wrote down on their note cards.

Girls’ varsity tennis

For years, the girls’ varsity tennis team has developed a rivalry with Tam.

“Usually when we play Tam, we make it so that it’s our Spirit Day so we are already extremely pumped up from a day of events and school spirit which helps a lot going into the match,” said co-captain Sydney Schonefeld. Branson, in past years, has been another major rival, even though they do not have the strongest program this year.

Redwood lost to Tam on Sept. 26 in the team’s only loss of the year. Tuesday’s match against Branson was not completed when darkness came. The team’s number one singles players will face off today to determine the winner.

Girls’ varsity volleyball

Branson is the girls’ varsity volleyball team’s main rival.

According to co-captain Rachael Thorson, Redwood has had the most competition with Branson over the past four years, and this season was first time that they won.

“We always visualize, but we visualize more for the big games and take it more seriously,” said Thorson. After losing to Branson three different times last year, Redwood finally defeated the Bulls on Sept. 27th this year at Branson.

The two teams will play again on Oct. 29th at Branson in another exciting match of MCAL rivals.

Boys’ varsity water polo

The boys’ varsity water polo team’s rivals have changed a lot from year to year. Marin Catholic and Drake have always been powerhouses. Co-captain Tom Cavanaugh also said Tam has recently become a rival.

Marin Catholic won NCS last year for the first time in history. However, this year Marin Catholic isn’t even considered a rival for Redwood. This year, for the first time in a while, Redwood was able to beat Tam in a tournament, and they hope to continue this trend.