This year, Palmetto was not the only one who witnessed her skill. At the Junior Olympics, a coach from San Diego State College asked her if she was interested in visiting the school for a recruiting trip.

“I was really nervous at first, but once she [the coach] started talking to me I felt a lot more comfortable,” Matos said. “I kept in touch with her, went to the trip in September and fell in love with the school. I signed up for the early period in November.”

Although that process seemed to happen in a blur for Matos, years of countless hours dedicated to the sport took her to where she is today.

It all started in seventh grade: Matos went to her first water polo practice and was instantly hooked. Since then, Matos has contributed her time to a club team that practices two hours a day for six hours a week, and to Palmetto’s team which prac­tices up to four times a week for an hour and a half.

“Seeing all the hours I spend go­ing to practice and playing in the tournament pays off,” Matos said. “It’s so satisfying to be able to look back at the past years I’ve dedicated to water polo and see how much I’ve improved.”

Matos has traveled around the U.S. over ten times in the past five and a half years for water polo tour­naments.

“I’ve met and played with water polo Olympians, and when I see what amaz­ing players they’ve be­come with hard work, it inspires me to do the same,” Matos said.

While most of Matos’s time is de­voted toward water polo, she still man­ages to play the saxophone in the jazz band, go to swim team meets and spend time with her friends on the weekends like any other teenager.

With San Diego in the picture, the future looks bright for Matos, and she aspires to make it to the Olym­pics.

“It’s al­ways been my dream to go there, but it all depends on how I do at the college level,” Matos said.

For now, winning the GMAC’s for the second year in a row and learning techniques to improve herself at the sport is just enough for Palmetto’s water polo star.