She’s 22 years old, which — in the world of Cal State Fullerton’s women’s water polo team in Year Two of the built-from-scratch program — makes Shyanne Rainey the equivalent of Grandma Moses. It’s an appropriate reference, one Rainey and her twin sister Samantha would be the first to nod their heads in appreciation.
The two were on the phone earlier this season, both gushing about the situations they both found themselves in at the end of their collegiate water polo careers. Samantha Rainey is a goalie for Concordia after transferring from Biola. Shyanne? A center/two-meter player for the Titans, brought to CSUF from Azusa Pacific.
“My sister and I were talking about how we found our retirement homes,” Rainey said. “It’s amazing. I’ve never played for a coach who cares this much, and neither has she. We both have coaches who care. We’re both in our happy retirement home for water polo.”
If Rainey is the poster child for “retirement,” perhaps CSUF coach Kyle Witt should start passing out AARP cards to all his players. After all, the occupant of her “happy retirement home for water polo” is also the answer to a happy Titan trivia question:
Name the first player in program history to be named Big West Player of the Week.
That would be Rainey, who drew the honor last month after scoring 12 goals, drawing three exclusions and collecting three steals in three games: wins against Biola and the University of Toronto and a gritty 15-10 loss to No. 7 Arizona State. Against Biola, Rainey powered home six goals — half of the Titans’ 12. She scored four of CSUF’s eight against Toronto, adding two against the Sun Devils.
Earlier this month at the Claremont Convergence Tournament at Claremont McKenna, Rainey led the Titans to a 3-1 record, scoring 11 goals in the four games. She’s fourth in the Big West with 36 goals, crashing a statistical party occupied by the usual characters from established programs such as Cal State…
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