Bailey Meyer started a new sport while battling an old foe during her sophomore year at Orange Lutheran.
She joined the newly formed girls water polo team, but her dyslexia made some directions in the pool challenging. Dyslexia is an inherited learning disorder often marked by difficulty reading.
Meyer combated her dyslexia by labeling her hands “left” and “right” with a pen, a strategy she recalls with a slight chuckle.
“By the end of practice, it would kind of wash off,” she said.
Meyer didn’t give up on water polo and has emerged this winter as a key contributor for one of the fastest rising teams in Orange County.
The senior’s solid play in goal is one of the main reasons Orange Lutheran (23-3) has climbed to No. 4 in the Orange County rankings and could secure a high seed in Division 1 when the CIF-SS playoff pairings are announced Sunday at 9 a.m.
“(She) been our backbone,” Orange Lutheran coach Steve Carrera said. “We can play defense as much as we want, but if the ball is going in, it doesn’t matter.
“She’s making blocks at the end of the shot clock and that’s what is keeping us fueled.”
Meyer’s journey parallels the experience of the Lancers, who overcame inexperience to capture their first Trinity League title.
Unlike some of her fellow goalies in Division 1, Meyer is a late arrival to water polo. She started playing as a sophomore.
Meyer’s favorite sport growing up was lacrosse, but she migrated to swimming and basketball as a freshman because Orange Lutheran didn’t offer lacrosse.
She joined water polo after hearing an announcement at school about the new program.
“I started over the summer and the workouts were brutal,” Meyer said. “(But the players) were so kind and welcoming that I was, ‘I want to stay here. This is really fun.’ “
Meyer found herself in goal as a sophomore after the Lancers’ keeper quit during a tournament, Carrera said.
As a junior, Meyer moved to center and utility Emma Skelly, a former age-group goalie, defended the cage.
Orange Lutheran finally found its winning lineup this past summer during a tournament in Santa Barbara. Meyer, who is 6-foot, went back to goalie and Skelly moved to attacker.
“We kind of knew that we really wanted to switch,” Meyer said. “I don’t like the contact (in the field). The goal is the perfect spot for me.”
The switch has paid off. Meyer has racked up 153 saves, including a season-high 12 saves in a breakthrough 10-6 victory at No. 3 Newport Harbor on Jan. 31.
“Going from being at a level of just playing for fun to (competing with) athletes of intensity has just been crazy (for me),” she said. “And how far we’ve come in these three years baffles me.”
Meyer credits her development to Coaches Steve and Ed Carrera and studying other goalies such as UCLA-bound Carlee Kapana of Newport Harbor. But her journey also has been buoyed by her perseverance.
She learned in the third grade of her dyslexia. She could memorize spelling words but struggled to write them properly in sentences.
Reading also has been challenging. But Meyer has flourished in Orange Lutheran’s dyslexia program and holds a 3.7 overall grade-point average. She aspires to become a marine biologist and has applied to UC Santa Cruz, Cal State Monterey Bay and UC Santa Barbara and is interested in UC Davis.
“(It’s) gotten a lot better,” she said of her dyslexia. “Orange Lutheran has helped me so much to grow.”
In and out of the pool.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
