U.S. Women’s Water Polo Names Youthful Squad for World Cup Division I Tournament
The U.S. women’s water polo squad named a youthful squad on Wednesday for the Women’s Water Polo World Cup Division I tournament later this month.
Nine of the 15 players on the roster will be making their senior national team debuts, augmenting Paris Olympians Amanda Longan, Tara Prentice and Jovana Sekulic.
The team includes four non-Californians, a very high number for the program. Sekulic is one, joined by Texan debutants Sam Hofley of Flower Mound and Dallas native Jailynn Robinson, now at UCLA. California goalie and 2024 Cutino Award winner Isabel Williams hails from Severna Park, Maryland.
Among those in line to make their debuts is Robinson’s UCLA teammate Malia Allen; Williams’ Cal teammate Maryn Dempsey; Stanford’s Natalia Szczerba; and California high schoolers Chrissy Flynn, Maggie Ryan and Lily Palma. Ryan is just a sophomore in high school. Flynn is the younger sister of Paris Olympian Jenna Flynn.
Among the holdovers from recent rosters is Charlotte Raisin, one of the standouts of November’s Pan American Championships.
The U.S. will play six games from Jan. 14-19 in Alexandroupolis, Greece. The U.S. is in Group A with Paris Olympic champion Spain, Greece and Hungary, which the U.S. beat for the 2024 World title. Group B includes Israel, Italy, Olympic runner-up Australia and 2023 world champion Netherlands.
Stats are available via World Aquatics, with streaming via Recast (pay per view).
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