Water polo: Six O.C. players make U.S. women’s for Olympic qualification tourney

Orange County water polo players, clockwise, Courtney Mathewson, Rachel Fattal, Maddie Musselman, Kaleigh Gilchrist, Makenzie Fischer and Aria Fischer have been selected to the U.S. women's team for its upcoming Qualification tournament in Netherlands. — Orange County water polo players, clockwise, Courtney Mathewson, Rachel Fattal, Maddie Musselman, Kaleigh Gilchrist, Makenzie Fischer and Aria Fischer have been selected to the U.S. women’s team for its upcoming Qualification tournament in Netherlands.

By Dan Albano | dalbano@scng.com | Orange County Register

March 9, 2016 at 11:11 a.m.

Six Orange County players have been named to the U.S. women’s water polo team for the upcoming Olympic Qualification tournament in Netherlands.

The players are Olympic gold medalist Courtney Mathewson (Canyon), Rachel Fattal (Los Alamitos), Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport Harbor), Maddie Musselman (Corona del Mar) and sisters Makenzie and Aria Fischer (Laguna Beach).

Team USA is the reigning Olympic and World champion.

Aria is the youngest of the six and has been on the fast-track recently as a center. She is a current junior on high school and likely beat out college-age players for her spot.

Mathewson, Fattal, Gilchrist, Makenzie Fischer and Musselman are former O.C. prep standouts. Fattal, Gilchrist and Makenzie were county players of the year.

The U.S. opens the tournament March 21 against Japan. Team USA needs to finish in the top-four to qualify for the Rio Olympics, which means the quarterfinal rounds will be the most anticipated matches.

Here’s the complete roster:

1. Sami Hill (Santa Barbara, CA/UCLA/Santa Barbara)
2. Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach, CA/Corona del Mar HS/CdM Aquatics)
3. Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford/NYAC)
4. Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL)
5. KK Clark (Menlo Park, CA/UCLA/NYAC)
6. Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/NYAC)
7. Courtney Mathewson (Anaheim Hills, CA/UCLA/NYAC)
8. Kiley Neushul (Goleta, CA/Stanford/Santa Barbara)
9. Aria Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Laguna Beach HS/NYAC)
10. Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport Beach, CA/USC/NYAC)
11. Makenzie Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Laguna Beach HS/SET)
12. Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, CA/USC/NYAC)
13. Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton/NYAC)
Head Coach: Adam Krikorian
Asst. Coaches: Dan Klatt and Chris Oeding