It may not carry the “Beautiful Game” label like football, but waterpolo brings its own brand of raw drama – as Saturday’s gripping clashes between Sirens and San Ġiljan, and derby rivals Sliema and Neptunes, clearly showed.

Saturday’s action-packed fixtures at Tal‑Qroqq delivered a double dose of waterpolo excitement.

In one corner, Sirens put everything on the line against powerhouse San Ġiljan in a gripping encounter; in the other, long-time rivals Sliema and Neptunes engaged in another fierce derby that swung back and forth.

Both matches showcased the sport’s signature blend of intensity, tactical flair, and nail-biting drama – proof that waterpolo has a spectacle all its own.

Saturday’s duel between Sirens and San Ġiljan fitted the bill perfectly.

It had been a truly balanced contest, with the team from St Paul’s Bay only a whisker away from pulling off a shock win.

In a match that kept fans on the edge of their seats, Sirens came agonisingly close to pulling off a shock result against San Ġiljan.

The match swung like a pendulum, and though Sirens eventually fell short, their performance after a heavy defeat to Neptunes deserves plaudits.

It was end-to-end excitement with two missed man-ups from Sirens resulting in the fall off of Ranko Perovic’s side.

The Northenders were left chasing the game early on, undone by a disastrous second session that saw them slip to a 7-2 half-time deficit after initially falling 4-0 behind.

Nicolas Bicari has been pivotal when scoring four goals in the late sessions.

San Ġiljan capitalised through Aaron Younger’s hat-trick, two of which came from five-metre throws.

Nikolai Zammit also netted a vital brace, striking just as Sirens looked to rally from 3-0 down, ending the first session at 3-2.

Zammit’s goals steadied the ship for the Saints, but Sirens roared back in the third session. A blistering 5-1 stretch began with two stunning goals from Kydon Agius, the second of which saw him pirouette past his marker before slotting past goalkeeper Jake Tanti.

The comeback brought the score to 8-7 entering the final quarter.

Bicari’s equaliser made it 8-8 early in the fourth session, setting up a grandstand finish.

Tully and Younger then restored San Ġiljan’s lead – though the latter’s goal came from a debatable penalty – only for Gianni Farrugia to bring Sirens back into contention once again.

In the dying moments, Isaiah Riolo’s powerful effort struck the post, dashing Sirens’ hopes of a famous win.

Having just beaten Neptunes, more was expected from San Ġiljan – but they’ll feel relieved to have escaped with the points.

In the second match, Sliema came out firing in the opening session, racing to a 3-0 lead that reflected their early sharpness.

Liam Galea opened the scoring with a beautifully executed backhand, setting the tone for the Blues.

With his team rattled, Neptunes coach Aleksandar Ćirić called an early time-out in a bid to restore composure – and it paid off.

Neptunes responded immediately, clawing their way back into the match as Stevie Camilleri struck twice early in the second session to swing the momentum and give the Reds a 4-3 lead.

What followed was a tense, end-to-end battle.

Each time Neptunes edged ahead, Sliema found a reply – until Angelos Vlachopoulos fired home to give Sliema a narrow 7-6 advantage at the halfway mark.

The third session continued in the same vein, with Neptunes again chasing the game.

Alec Fenech brought them level at 7-7, but quickfire goals from Galea and Jayden Cassar saw Sliema open up a two-goal cushion.

The Reds, however, refused to back down. Gergo Zalánki and Julian Valletta kept them in touching distance before Jordan Camilleri brought the sides level again at 10-10.

Ben Cachia capitalised on a man-up situation to restore Sliema’s lead at 11-10, but Stevie Camilleri responded instantly.

Then, just before the buzzer, Jordan Camilleri struck once more to give Neptunes a 12-11 lead going into the final quarter.

With just one goal separating the sides, the stage was set for a dramatic final act.

Neptunes extended their lead through Gergo Zalánki.

However, a lightning counter-attack sprung directly from the goalkeeper’s hand allowed Ben Cachia to cut the deficit to 12–13.

Liam Galea then restored parity with a thunderous nine‑metre strike.

The lead swung again when teenage sensation Sam Engerer rose above the pack to make it 14-13 for Sliema.

Neptunes answered through Gialanze, but Sliema were determined not to be denied.

In a dramatic finale, Dino Zammit showcased his composure and technique, lobbing a delicate ball over Marco Rossi as the buzzer sounded.

It was an unforgettable climax to an extraordinary match.

RESULTS

TA’ XBIEX AMIGOS    10

MARSAXLOKK MFF LTD        21

(0-4, 1-6, 5-7, 4-4)

TA’ XBIEX: T. Schembri, J. Farrugia, A. Camenzuli, L. Grech Carr 1, T.J. Mifsud, M. Manara, F. Scardino, R. Pelicaric 6, N. Bonavia, J. Culic 1, Z. Bartolo, A. Formosa, A. Theuma, S. Van Wyk 2.

MARSAXLOKK: M. Farrugia, M. Lanzon 1, N. Bogdanovic 6, A. Aquilina 1, R. Spiteri 2, L. Brownrigg, S. Mifsud, J. Pawley, R. Galea 3, J. Borg Tabone 4, A. Fava 1, A. Cook 3, J. Micallef, B. Lewis.

SIRENS          10

SAN ĠILJAN 11

(2-3, 0-4, 5-1, 3-3)

SIRENS: J. Parnis, P. Serracino, N. Bicari 4, P. Borg 1, J. Cachia 1, K. Agius 2, M. Ortoleva, I. Riolo , J. Zerafa Gregory, M. Sciberras , N. Rafailovic, G. Farrugia 1, M. Bonello Dupius, G. Pace.

SAN ĠILJAN: J. Tanti, D. Bugeja, D. Tully 1, R. Caruana, A. Younger 3, M. Zammit 2, J. Bonavia 1 , B. Plumpton 1, J. Abela 1 , N. Zammit  2, D. Zammit  , N. Schiavone, Z. Attard, G. Bonavia.

Refs : A. Rondoni, R. Spiteri.

NEPTUNES 14

SLIEMA 15

(2-3, 4-4, 6-4,2-3)

NEPTUNES: M. Castillo, S. Gialanze 3, G. Zalanki 3, L. Mallia , J. Camilleri 3, J. Valletta 1, S. Camilleri 3, M.Castillo , B. Schranz, J. Bajada , A. Fenech 1, M. Azzopardi, M. Rossi, E. Mallia.

SLIEMA: N.Grixti, E. Schembri , L. Galea 3, J. Gambin 1, J. Cassar 2, B. Cachia 3, J. Cutajar, D. Rizzo 1, J. Chircop, A. Galea, A. Vlachopulos 2, D. Zammit 2, B. Busuttil, S. Engerer 1

Refs: Marco Piano, Massimo Angilleri.

Santa Barbara will once again be represented on the USA Women’s National Water Polo Team in a major international tournament.

Former local high school stars Ryann Neushul and Ava Stryker have been named to the 15-player roster for the World Aquatics World Championships, July 10-23 in Singapore.

Neushul is a 2024 Olympian out of Dos Pueblos High. This spring she won a fourth NCAA Women’s Water Polo championship at Stanford, becoming the first player in program history to win four titles. She was honored as the Association of Water Polo Coaches Player of the Year.

In addition, Neushul was named the recipient of the prestigious Peter J. Cutino Award, presented to the college women’s water polo of the year. She is the second member of her family to win the award, joining older sister Kiley, who is a two-time honoree (2012, 2015).

In her international career, Ryann Neushul has played on three gold-medal winning teams at the World Championships (2019, 2022, 2024). Sisters Kiley (2015, 2017) and Jamie (2017) also have won world championship gold with Team USA.

Styker, a San Marcos alum who completed her sophomore season at USC and was a repeat All-American honoree, will be making her debut at the senior World Championships. She is one of seven newcomers coach Adam Krikorian has picked to the squad.

Stryker competed for the U.S. at the 2023 World Aquatics Junior World Championships and won a gold medal at the 2022 FINA Youth World Championships.

Team USA has been drawn into Group B where the action begins Thursday, July 10 against China at 9:10 p.m. Pacific time. They’ll also meet the Netherlands and Argentina in group play. Live streaming of the World Championships will be available on Peacock.

The roster selected for World Championships features seven returning Olympians from the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, including two-time Olympian and Tokyo gold medalist Amanda Longan. The others are Tara Prentice, Jenna Flynn, Jewel Roemer, Emily Ausmus, Ella Woodhead and Ryann Neushul.

Joining Stryker on the list of newcomers are Anna Pearson (UCLA), Julia Bonaguidi (UC San Diego), Emma Lineback (UCLA), Isabel Williams (Cal), Rachel Gazzaniga (USC) and Malia Allen (UCLA).

Santa Barbara High alum Molly Cahill is an assistant coach for Team USA.

2nd day of Wave 2 of AAU Boys Nationals is now well under way and things are heating up as teams are getting ready for the last two days of competition and trying to seal their gold/championship bracket claims.  

17 Open – Results

As someone over on VolleyTalk said this is one topsy-turvy division.  Only 5 teams remain undefeated (949, Coast, Rockstar, Triangle and 630) Of these 5 only Coast has not dropped a set yet and aside from a tough first match against Team’Sota they have been pretty flawless, not giving up more than 19 points to any of their opponents in today’s matches.  

Big upsets of the day included :

#37 Academy beating #1 overall seed MVVC 2-0 in a tight 25-23, 25-22 win.  

#32 Adidas KIVA  beating #5 MB Surf in a quick fashion in the early game this morning.  MB Surf did not play great all day today going 1-2 on the day and putting themselves in danger of potentially missing out on the challenge matches if they dont beat the so far undefeated Rockstar team.  There are a few scenarios if they lose that they will not make the cut.

One of the big pleasant surprises of the tournament so far has been #44 MOD B17 Blue whose only losses so far are to MB Surf and Rockstar in the pool.  They look poised to come out #2 from this pool.  This is a testament to the coaching staff and the team making some changes and really getting these boys ready for the biggest tournament of the year.

There are lots of permutations still but suffice to say that these are the teams still alive for top 4 spots in each pool:

Pool A: MVVC B 17 Red, Academy 17O Under Armour, Pinnacle 17-Amado, Legion 17 Elite Gold, HVA 17 PERFORMANCE RED

Pool B: 7 out of 8 teams are still alive! C2 Attack Boys 17-1 Elite, AZ Fear 17 JG, 630 Volleyball 17-1, NCVC 17-Mizuno, Seaside 17-Black, PVC Sandlot 17-Blue, EXCEL 17N Red.  This pool may get a sub .500 team into the challenge bracket so you can imagine the parity of these teams.

Pool C: This pool is a lot simpler with only 5 teams still alive:  949 B17 Black, Triangle Boys 17 Black, SouthCoastVolleyball 17-1, Bay to Bay 17-1, Team Rockstar 17 Gold

Pool D: COAST Boys 17-1 Pat, HPSTL B17 Royal, MKE Sting 17-1, Adversity South 17 Adidas, SMASH Boys 17-1

Pool E: MB Surf ASICS 17’s 1 ,Team Rockstar 17 Rockstar, GSL 17 Elect – Josh, MVC 17-Joe, Adidas KIVA 17B Red, MOD B17 Blue

Pool F: Balboa Bay 17Blue, WPVC Boys 17 Armour Black, The St. James Boys 17 N, OMNI 17-1 National, Warren Sixpack 17-1

15 Open – Results

If yesterday was a long day for 15s, today was even worse.  Teams were playing well until 2:30-3 PM here in Florida with a lot of matches going deep into 3rd sets.  We lost a bunch of unbeaten teams from yesterday and now only a few remain, including:  Team Rockstar 15 Rockstar, MB Surf ASICS 15’s 1, Bay to Bay 15-1, Balboa Bay 15Blue, MVVC B 15 Red, COAST Boys 15-1 Chris, BORINQUEN COQUI 15-1M.  Number of these teams will play each other tomorrow so this exclusive club will be reduced further after AM matches determining the challenge match contenders.

Of the top seeds 630 returned back to their winning ways even without Tommy Clifford and proved their a good overall team that can compete with anyone.  However two other big upsets of the day included:

#2 GVA losing to #35 Apex1 in a crazy back and forth match with Apex1 coming out on top 2-1 in sets.  

#6 HPSTL also lost to #18 SC Legends and have put themselves in a bit of a tough spot as they are taking on a red-hot Balboa Bay team.  Its not a must win for HPSTL but with a loss they may find themselves in a 3-way tie for 4ths seed with Jax Skyline and SC Legends.

Teams still alive for Gold Bracket:

Pool A: Team Rockstar 15 Rockstar, Academy 15O Under Armour, BVA – Lions 15-1, Aspire 15 Black Panther, SCB 15 Salty Kris, DallasOne 15 Black

Pool B: 5 teams for 4 spots in this GVA Boys 15u Pink, MOD B15 Blue, MKE Sting 15-1, SPVB B15 Elite, APEX1 15-A1BLACK

Pool C: 4 teams have already clinched spots but not the order of finish and they all play each other tomorrow:  630 Volleyball 15-1, Miami United 15N Jonathan, Cinci Attack 15 Black, BORINQUEN COQUI 15-1M

Pool D: Top 2 seeds have already been decide but MB Surf ASICS 15’s 1 and COAST Boys 15-1 Chris will determine the winner of the pool in their matchup tomorrow.  Other spots will be claimed by either Legion 15 Elite Gold or Academy Boys 15 TT and SNVF U15 MOUNT ADAMS

Pool E: This is one of those pools where anything can still happen and 3-4 record may get someone into the challenge rounds.  Bay to Bay 15-1, MVVC B 15 Red (NC), Outrigger U15, OCVC 15-1, Warren Sixpack 15-1, and Elevation 15 Peak Boys can all still make it out of the pool.  We predict there will be some scoreboard watching here and some 3 way ties that will need to be broken with golden sets

Pool F: HPSTL B15 Royal, Balboa Bay 15Blue, SC Legends 15-Elite, AZ Fear 15 SB, JAX SKYLINE 15B Royal.  

14 Open – Results

Later today… 

Top Club of the Day

Later tonight… Lots of volleyball still to be played…

Top Performance of the Day

TBD, lots of volleyball going on here still

Follow the nationals here!

AAU Nationals Wave 1 – Orlando, Florida – Schedule | Watch 

AAU Nationals Wave 2 – Orlando, Florida – Schedule | Watch 

For more data on boys’ nationals please take a look at this spreadsheet: 

Boys National Championships DataSheet

Registration for the city of Ocoee’s girls youth volleyball league is now open for the fall 2025 season and will remain open until Friday, Aug. 15. 

The league’s fall season — with three age divisions, 10U, 13U and 16U — will begin the week of Sept. 2 and run through Saturday, Nov. 8. The league will hold skill evaluations by age division Saturday, Aug. 23, beginning with the 10U division from 11 a.m. to noon, then 13U from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. and 16U from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Registration costs for the league are $70 for Ocoee residents and $80 for non-residents. For more information on the league and how to register, call Ocoee Parks & Leisure Services at (407) 905-3180. 

The league is also in need of volunteer coaches, if interested contact Alex Gonzalez via email at [email protected].