Local water polo star and 2024 U.S. Olympian Ryann Neushul was named the Best Player of the Tournament at the inaugural World Aquatics 4×4 Open Championships in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Neushul, a Dos Pueblos and Stanford alum, led the Team USA women to a 3-0 win over Spain for the gold medal. The three points represented a sweep of three sets of play. The scores of the three five-minute sets were 4-1, 4-2 and 3-0.
Neushul and Jewell Roemer each scored three goals in the final and goalie Lauren Steele made 11 saves.
Team USA didn’t lose a set seven tournament games. In the playoffs, they defeated Australia in the semifinals and South Africa in the quarterfinals. Their sweeps in group play came over Greece, South Africa, Türkiye and Spain.Â
Earlier this summer, Neushul won a gold medal with the full U.S. Women’s Senior National Team at the World Aquatics World Cup. Local players Paige Hauschild, Lucy Haaland-Ford and Ava Stryker were also on the team.
In this new style of water polo, each team features four players in the water and a smaller (15×12 meters) playing area. In addition, the shot clock is shortened to 20 seconds and there is a two-point shot from a team’s own half of the pool.
The U.S. head coach was Santa Barbara High alum Molly Cahill.
