Player Bio: Brenda Villa

  Brenda Villa
Brenda Villa
Player Profile
Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Commerce, CA
High School:
Bell Gardens
Height:
5-4
Position:
Driver
Birthdate:
04/18/1980

Villa00_actionB.jpgBriefly: Highly effective all around player ... Phenomenal goal-scorer ... Great passer ... Reads the defense well ... Skilled decision maker on defense ... Exudes joy in playing water polo.

Summer/Fall of 2002: Named the December 2002 United States Olympic Committee Player of the Month ... Helped lead the U.S. National Team to the 2002 FINA Women’s Water Polo World Cup gold medal game in Perth, Australia ... Was the World Cup Tournament's leading scorer with nine goals ... Named MVP after the U.S. claimed third at the International Water Polo Tournament in Kirishi, Russia ... Selected MVP of the Holiday Cup after the U.S. downed Canada on the Stanford Campus in July.

As a sophomore in 2002: Recipient of the Pete J. Cutino Award, presented annually by the Olympic Club to the country's top female collegiate water polo player ... Led the team with 60 goals and scored in 21 of Stanford’s 23 games ... Selected as a First Team All-American by the American Water Polo Coaches Association ... Earned First Team All-MPSF honors .... Named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team after netting five goals during the Tournament, including one as the Cardinal downed UCLA 8-4 for the title ... Named to the 2002 MPSF Championship All-Tournament First Team ... Earned Player of the Week honors on February 25 after netting nine goals in four games at the Gaucho Invitational ... Scored four goals against Cal and Hawai’i ... Finished the Stanford Invitational with 10 goals in four games ... Had 19 multiple goal games ... Presented with the Stanford Athletic Board Block 'S' Outstanding Female Sophomore Award.

Summer of 2001: Member of the National Team that placed fourth at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

As a redshirt freshman in 2001: Named the Division I Water Polo Player of the Year … Selected First Team All-America by the American Water Polo Coaches Association … Earned First Team All-MPSF honors and was named the MPSF Co-Player of the Year … Made the First Team All-Tournament Teams of the NCAA and MPSF Championships … Led the team with 69 goals scored … Scored in 25 of the Cardinal’s 28 games, and scored at least two goals on 22 occasions … Posted two goals in the NCAA Championship game against UCLA … Honored twice as the MPSF Player of the Week, once on Feb. 12 and again on April 1 … Earned her second Player of the Week award after scoring nine goals in four conference wins, recording hat tricks in wins over San Diego State and UC Irvine and notched two goals against Long Beach State … First Player of the Week accolade came after helping lead the Cardinal to the Stanford Invitational title, scoring four goals in the championship game over UCLA … Recorded a season-high six goals against U.S.C at the Santa Barbara Tournament … Scored three goals in Stanford’s 8-5 win over No. 2 UCLA in the MPSF Championship game ... Recipient of the Stanford Athletic Board Conference Female Athlete of the Year Award.

Summer of 2000: Competed in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney with U.S. National Team, which won the silver medal … Led the U.S. team in scoring with nine goals in the games … Scored the equalizer in the gold-medal game before Australia came back with :01 second left to score the game-winner … Scored four goals in a 9-6 win over Kazakhstan.

As a freshman in 1999 and 2000: Redshirted to train with the U.S. National Team.

High School: 1998 graduate of Bell Gardens High School … Considered the nation's top recruit … Four-time First-Team All-American … Competed in the 1998 World Championships in Perth, Australia with the U.S. National Team … Member of the California Scholarship Federation.

Personal: Born April 18, 1980 in East Los Angeles, California … Daughter of Rosario and Ines Villa … Has two brothers (Edgar, 24 and Uriel, 14) … Leading scorer on the U.S. team at the 1997 FINA World Cup in France … Competed in the FINA World Cup in 1999 … Played at the 1999 Junior World Championships in Italy … Hobbies and interests include reading, listening to music and hanging out with friends … Political Science major.