May 2, 2000
Stanford women's water polo players Brenda Villa and Ellen Estes will compete for the honor of participating with the USA Women's Water Polo team at the 2000 Summer Olympics. 11 players will be chosen to compete with the US team in Sydney.
Brenda Villa recorded the game winning goal in a 6-5 win over Hungary at the World Women's Olympic Qualification Tournament in Palermo, Sicily to advance the USA to the 2000 Olympics. Villa has recorded seven goals for the USA team after six games, the second highest on the team. Ellen Estes has recorded two.
Ellen Estes, from Novato, Calif., has redshirted at Stanford in 1999 and 2000 to train with the National Team. She played for the Cardinal as a freshman in 1997, recording 49 goals, the second best on the squad, and earning Second Team All-America and First Team MPSF Northern Division honors. Her sophomore year in 1998, Estes was named a First Team All-American and the MPSF Player of the Year as she led the team with an astounding 93 goals, breaking the school record.
Brenda Villa, a native of Bell Gardens, Calif., graduated from Bell Gardens High School in 1998, and then redshirted with the Cardinal for the past two seasons to train with the US National Team. In high school, Villa was a four-time All-American, and was considered the nation's top recruit.
The six-team Olympic field consists of the National Women's Water Polo teams from Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Russia and the USA. The six teams will travel to Los Alamitos, Calif. for the USA Water Polo Olympic Team Selection Tournament held July 4-9.