Santa Barbara Waterpolo’s Kodi Hill and Kiley Neushul opened the 2014 collegiate season with a bang as both garnered MPSF “Player of the Week” honors. Hill led the Bruins to victory at the UCLA Invitational scoring a total of six goals in four games while recording 10 assists and seven steals. Neushul led Stanford University to the championship at the 2014 Stanford Invitational last weekend scoring eleven goals. Hill and Neushul, longtime SBWPC and DPHS team mates, went head to head in the title match where Stanford prevailed 8-4. Each scored one goal in the final. Kodi’s older sister, Sami Hill, played an outstanding game in goal for the Bruins, stopping ten shots including a first quarter lob from Jamie Neushul, a freshman at Stanford.
All four collegians along with Tiera Schroeder (Cal) competed on Dos Pueblos High School’s record breaking teams that won four straight CIF Championships including a two-year undefeated record of 67-0. Sami Hill and Kiley Neushul are members of USA’s Senior National Team that won the 2014 Holiday Cup with victories over Holland, Russia, Canada, Australia, and Greece. Kodi Hill, Kiley Neushul, and Tiera Schroeder (Cal) led Team USA to the 2013 Junior World Championship in Volos Greece over the summer. Kelsey O’Brien, a Freshman at UCLA, also played in the championship game. Madeline Trabucco and Schroeder led Cal to third place at the Stanford Invitational with 12-6 victory over UCI. Trabucco, a freshman, is the Bear’s starting goalie.
Santa Barbara Water Polo Club is well represented nationally with twenty-three players on Division I NCAA’s water polo teams. Names to watch for this season include Sami Hill, Kodi Hill, and Kelsey O’Brien (UCLA); Tiera Schroeder and Madeline Trabucco (Cal), Kiley Neushul and Jamie Neushul (Stanford); Ashlea Coski and Alisa Argend (San Jose State); Laurel Kistler and Leah Gonzales (UCSD); Amanda Redfern (Indiana); Jade Wentz Fitzgerald, Sophie Trabucco, Tess Wardle, and Miranda Schrader (UCSB); Brittny Hummel (Sonoma State); Charlotte Hendrix (Harvard); Chandler Vilander (George Washington); MacKenzy Fowler (Cal State Northridge); Noelle Mann (UOP); Rose Koper (Claremont); and Hannah Koper (Brown).
Santa Barbara Water Polo alumni will meet next at the nation’s largest collegiate tournament held at UC Irvine on 22-23 February.