We’re starting this thread to discuss the girls’ 16U World Championships.
Here is a link to the schedule:
World Aquatics Women’s U16 Water Polo Championships 2026 - Croatia | World Aquatics Official
1 Like
Here is the roster for the U.S. team:
Natalie Arata - attacker/center defender, Beckman Class of 2029
Kate Bambury - attacker, Class of 2030
Sophia Becker - goalie, St. Ignatius Class of 2029
Abby Billish - attacker/center defender, Long Beach Wilson Class of 2028
Claire Billish - utility, Long Beach Wilson Class of 2030
Teodora Diaconu - center, Greenwich Academy Class of 2028
Siena Doble - utility, Oaks Christian Class of 2028
Amaya Dresevic - LH attacker, Cathedral Catholic Class of 2029
Blake Hofley - center defender/attacker, Orange Lutheran Class of 2028
Juliana Horton - attacker, Santa Barbara Class of 2028
Gia Jacob - attacker, Valhalla Class of 2028
McKenna Mack - attacker/center defender, Newport Harbor Class of 2030
Paige Segesman - center, Mater Dei Class of 2028
Louise Walls - center defender, Campolindo Class of 2028
Margaret Weber - goalie, Carondelet Class of 2030
2 Likes
For some reason stream with USA vs Romania was pulled from Youtube.
It’s not on their Streams section either: https://www.youtube.com/@WorldAquatics/streams
Considering this was a blow-out, perhaps ok not watching it. Game vs Canada (Day 2 Morning session) was interesting (also more Billish, less Arata interestingly)
All today’s Games are posted
What does that mean?
Too bad. That’s quite a talented group so I’m sure they are disappointed.
Does any know how they ranked the teams after the first 4 games? Seemed quite arbitrary with the 5 teams at 4-0 records - if they used goals for USA would have been 3rd, goals against 1st, and goal differential 3rd. Instead they are 4th with a tough matchup with Hungary.
Cannot find a true source from AQUA but
“Positions in the table are determined by the Tournament Performance Index (TPI) rather than total points. The TPI is calculated as the arithmetic average of match performance scores, factoring in the match outcome, goal difference, and the opponent’s strength (Elo rating).” from wikipedia
4 - Segesman (center, Regency) - those are some tortured positions that she managed to get shots from (except for 1 nice easy 1-touch catch-shoot with assist from Clair). When game goes tough, she delivered. Like the Hungarian’s look on the face when Segesman repeated her back-hander. 
2 - Kate (Patriots) - 3 years i see her in pool and she is best on 4, just taking massive shots from like 5 meters away. The only time I saw her scared to take those shots are in the ~2024 JO final vs Newport (which Patriots - Kate’s team - lost by 1 because … many reasons…). Here Kate at first held her shots which was odd, then just switched her usual mode on.
1 - Clair Billish (the younger sister, Long Beach)… Super brave shot from 4, again some 4-5 meters away, upper left.. But bigger picture, was it 3-4 assists? (from 5 usually).
1 - Hofley (Legacy) - table-stakes.
1 - Arata (Patriots) - unusual for her to be so low. Tough games are her specialty. She usually hangs there on 1, 2 and ninjas herself into a scoring situation. Her defense intelligence really helped this game, but she was unusually conservative in scoring.
There is another Clair-like player on 16u - McKenna Mack - super fearless usually. But Hungary’s defense on 1x, 2x side was much better in this game.
As for Abby Billish, Hungarians likely had a target on her back. Abby (by habit) is typically in mess of things, doing super heavy lifting. That is super tiring when you have a target on your back.
(posted this in another thread in response, but realized it is better here )
1 Like
Pasting stats, including minutes played, from the Hungary game here: World Aquatics Waterpolo World Cup 2026
Segesman went 4/5 and the team went 9/26, which means the rest of Team USA went 5/21 for 24% shooting. Hungary, by comparison, shot 13/20 as a team, or 65%.
The Hungarian roster is heavily concentrated in 2010-born players (12 of 15 players), with only three 2011-born athletes.
The U.S. roster includes:
- 8 players born in 2010
- 3 players born in 2011
- 3 players born in 2012
From what little I watched of the game, Hungary looked bigger, faster, stronger, and more powerful and aggressive.
Reflecting from Hungary vs Greece game back onto USA vs Hungary:
Greece is successful when it never presses hard inside on offense. 2, 3, 4, 5 sit at ~5 - 7meters away. Sudden strong shots from 5-6 meters, a goal from 8 meters away from 3. Greek center was open without risk of being immediately dropped on. When Greeks would squeeze tighter on offense they start to look like USA, going is much tougher and many possessions are lost.
Greeks on defense almost completely ignore center def / 3. 2 defenders are always on Hungary’s center Mihok. Hungary has super rare oppo to score from center. In USA v Hungary, Hungary’s center was much less constricted. Hungary outside shots come from 4-5 meters away but hit hands, out or goalie.
By Q2 it was almost disorienting despair on Hungary, defense was sluggish, offense was more mechanical (safe burning of shot clock with a cosmetic disposition of ball).
Greece started by teaching Hungary a lesson: we can easily score from outside.
USA started with outside holding their shots and teaching Hungary a lesson: we prefer to go through our center.
Overall lesson for girls playing 2, 3, 4 in normal rotation: practice your ~5-6 meter away shots to upper corner like the life of your team depends on it.
Does US have any L attackers on 4/5 side? I remember seeing one in the past with a nasty shot but didn’t see one in the Hungary game.
I watched the final game of ESP v GRE and saw an American woman ref assigned on the final - Villalobo. Nice achievement by USA
I think the lefty on USA was filming and not playing.