(Tempe, AZ) Current Sun Devil Sophie Shorter-Robinson and former players of Sun Devil Water Polo. Bente Rogge (2017-21), Lieke Rogge (2019) and Vanda Baska (2022) are set to compete on the international stage for their respective countries this summer at the 2023 Women’s Water Polo World Cup set to take place June 22-25 in Long Beach, California.
Freshman Shorter-Robinson is representing New Zealand, prior to joining the Sun Devils she was competing in the FINA circuit in the U20 world championships with her country, and she is a two-time gold medalist with her country on the senior national team. From Auckland, she spent four years with the Marist Water Polo club, and in her first season with the Sun Devils, she found the net 25 times, netting three hat tricks and 11 steals on the year.
New Zealand went a perfect 3-0 in pool play, outscoring opponents 50-21 in three games, averaging about 16 goals per contest.
Bente Rogge is seeking her second international championship with the Netherlands alongside her sister Lieke Rogge at the World Cup. Bente was part of the 2018 European Championship Team, leading them to a gold medal and Bente has represented the Dutch on their U20 Women’s national team, earning a bronze medal in 2018.
Bente was an essential contributor of the 2021 Sun Devil team that finished in third place at the NCAA tournament, the highest placement in program history, and finished her colligate career with 154 goals in five seasons in Tempe which ranks eighth in team history and is a three-time All-American. In her final two seasons with the program, she had 89 goals and recorded a career-high 40 steals in the 2021 campaign which led the team.
Lieke Rogge was an attacker for the Sun Devils in 2019 and found the back of the net 37 times, along with 28 assists. In 2019 she earned a silver medal at the FINA World’s Women’s Junior Water Polo Championships representing the Dutch. She has been a member of the Dutch junior national team since 2015 and added two medals in 2017 and 2018 at the European junior championships, while before joining the Sun Devils in 2019 she was a Dutch Junior Champion in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017.
In April, Lieke had four goals in a game against Italy in pool play, where the Netherlands went 5-1, outscoring opponents 73-58 in six matches, as the only loss by the Dutch came against Hungary in pool play.
Vanda Baska is representing the Hungarian National team and was an important asset of the 2022 Sun Devil team by re-writing the record book and being named MPSF newcomer of the year. She led the conference in goals (73), assists (49) and points (122), her 73 goals rank the most by a freshman and ranks fourth most all-time in program history. Baksa was named a second-team All-American after being named a six-time MPSF Newcomer of the week and was one-point shy of tying the program’s all-time single-season point record.
In pool play, Hungary went 4-2 which included a tight victory over the Netherlands. The team scored 75 goals, which was tied with Spain for the most goals in the six matches prior to qualifying for the World Cup.
THE FIELD
The eight teams competing in Long Island CA. consists of the United States, Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Greece, Israel and New Zealand. The Netherlands have won the Women’s Water Polo world cup eight times, the most of all countries, and the United States are going into the tournament seeking their fourth straight world cup. They have won four titles all time.
The Women’s World Cup is set to begin on June 22 with the first quarterfinal match featuring Hungary and Greece at 1 p.m. MST.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Zach Wargo
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