Los Angeles, CA -- USA Water Polo is proud to announce the U.S. Olympic Team for Women's Water Polo that will compete at the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China starting August 8. The squad qualified for the Olympics via Gold Medal victories at the 2007 Pan American Games and both are fresh off Silver Medal finishes at the 2008 FINA World League Super Final.
Leading the way for the women's team, the current FINA World Champions is captain Brenda Villa (Commerce, CA/Stanford) who is headed to her third Olympic Games. Joining her is another three-time Olympian in Heather Petri (Orinda, CA/Berkeley) and two-timer Natalie Golda (Fullerton, CA/UCLA). The rest of the squad is made up of 10 first time Olympians who despite the fact are rich with experience having all spent at least the last two years with the national team.
Moriah van Norman (San Diego, CA/USC), Lauren Wenger (Long Beach, CA), Patty Cardenas (Commerce, CA/USC), Brittany Hayes (Santa Ana, CA/USC), and Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, CA/USC) round out the Southern California contingent, as the five former college teammates will suit up for Team USA. Joining them are two of Michigan's finest in Alison Gregorka (Ann Arbor, MI/Stanford) and Bestey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, MI/Michigan) along with the other non-Californian in Elsie Windes (Portland, OR/Berkeley). Last but not least are a pair from Central and Northern California in Jaime Hipp (Fresno, CA/UCLA) and Jessica Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford).
Quotes:
"(Since 2004) I think I've gotten better, the reason I came back was I didn't feel like a true Olympian because I knew I could play better. I feel like an Olympian now with this group of girls, we have all the right pieces and it's incredibly exciting now to just be thinking about water polo and our next opponent." Natalie Golda, Defender - U.S. Olympic Team for Women's Water Polo
U.S. Olympic Team for Women's Water Polo
Betsey Armstrong
Heather Petri
Brittany Hayes
Brenda Villa
Lauren Wenger
Natalie Golda
Patty Cardenas
Jessica Steffens
Elsie Windes
Alison Gregorka
Moriah van Norman
Kami Craig
Jaime Hipp
2008-07-01
