Press Release courtesy of USA Water Polo
USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team Head Coach Adam Krikorian has announced a 14-woman roster that will head to Australia and New Zealand for the first official competition of 2018. Team USA will take on Australia in two exhibition matches on March 28 and 30 on the Sunshine Coast in Australia. From there they will head to Auckland, New Zealand for the FINA Intercontinental Tournament taking place April 3-8. Prior to the start of the FINA competition, 13 athletes will be selected to take part in the event.
2016 Olympic gold medalists Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford/NYAC), Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL), and Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport Beach, CA/USC/NYAC) will lead Team USA into action. They’ll be joined by 2017 World Champions Gabby Stone (La Jolla, CA/Stanford/San Diego Shores), Jamie Neushul (Isla Vista, CA/Stanford/Santa Barbara 805) and Alys Williams (Huntington Beach, CA/UCLA/Huntington Beach WP).
The USA Women currently hold every major title in women’s international water polo including the Olympic Games, FINA World Championship, FINA World Cup and FINA World League. They last competed in December in a four game exhibition going 4-0 with wins over the Netherlands and China.
USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team – Australia/New Zealand Travel Roster
1. Gabby Stone – GK (La Jolla, CA/Stanford/San Diego Shores)
2. Ava Johnson – C (Walnut Creek, CA/Las Lomas HS/680 Water Polo)
3. Melissa Seidemann – C (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford/NYAC)
4. Rachel Fattal – A (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL)
5. Jamie Neushul – A (Isla Vista, CA/Stanford/Santa Barbara 805)
6. Bayley Weber – D (Los Alamitos, CA/Los Alamitos HS/SET)
7. Stephania Haralabidis – A (Athens, Greece/USC/NYAC)
8. Ryann Neushul – A (Isla Vista, CA/Dos Pueblos HS/Santa Barbara 805)
9. Jewel Roemer – A (Isla Vista, CA/Dos Pueblos HS/Santa Barbara 805)
10. Kaleigh Gilchrist – A (Newport Beach, CA/USC/NYAC)
11. Abbi Hill – C (Santa Barbara, CA/Dos Pueblos HS/Santa Barbara 805)
12. Alys Williams – D (Huntington Beach, CA/UCLA/Huntington Beach WP)
13. Georiga Phillips – GK (Fresno, CA/Clovis North HS/Rose Bowl WP
14. Valerie Ayala – A – (Santa Ana, CA/Foothill HS/SOCAL WPF)
Head Coach: Adam Krikorian
Assistant Coach: Ethan Damato
Assistant Coach: Kristin Rodriguez
Team Manager: Andrew Silva
*13 athletes to be selected for the FINA Intercontinental Tournament
March 28 USA vs Australia – 7:30pm pt Watch LIVE
March 30 USA vs Australia – 12:00am pt Watch LIVE
FINA Intercontinental Tournament – USA Women’s National Team Schedule (all times pt)
April 2 Australia 10:50pm pt
April 3 New Zealand 3:00pm pt
April 4 Kazakhstan 9:30am pt
April 5 TBD
April 6 TBD
April 7 TBD
