BORDER teenage water polo prodigy Alex Cox stamped her class on the Victorian Seals in a stunning come from behind win in the national water polo league yesterday.
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The 16-year-old came off the bench yesterday, with her bounce shots too good for the Hunter Hurricanes Olympic gold medal-winning keeper.
Still down by two at the three-quarter-time, the Seals put on three goals in 2½ minutes at the start of the final term.
Cox and Ovens and Murray star Leah Dodd were part of a Seals side that also included American and Dutch imports along with dual Aussie Olympian Rowie Webster — voted in the top five players in the world.
She moved to Melbourne last year to play for the ill-fated Victorian Tigers but was quickly picked up by the state’s new franchise.
Cox earned rave reviews from coach Marni Jacka.
“From a coaching point of view the win was amazing, the composure and belief turned the game around and Alex was a key to that,” she said.
“Coxy came off the bench and was instrumental to the success with her bounce shots, she knew where to expose the Italian goalkeeper, where her weaknesses were.
“The outside shots that Coxy had turned around the dynamics of the game, lifted the entire team.
“The aim of this franchise is to develop young talent, expose them to top flight water polo, and Alex is a classic example of how that is improving their game.”
Cox moved to Melbourne last year to pursue her water polo career after being a standout for the Albury Tigers.
“It’s great to learn from the girls, we are a young side but have some quality players who are an inspiration to us all,” she said.
Victorian Seals president Steve Blunt said they wanted to make the Border a stronghold for the club.
“This is the second year we have brought teams to Wodonga and we want to make it an annual event,” he said.
