USA-Australia to meet again in women’s water poloJust 40 days after their last matchup, the record setting “Blastoff to Beijing” game at Stanford on July 10th, the USA and Australia Olympic Women’s Water Polo Teams will square off in the Olympic semifinals.

The two powerhouses of the sport will meet Tuesday, August 19, at 2:20pm Beijing time (11:20pm Monday night, PDT). In the “Blastoff to Beijing” contest, Stanford alum and USA captain Brenda Villa tallied three goals to lead Team USA to a 7-5 victory, in front of 2,967 spectators at Avery Aquatic Center, the largest ever for a women’s water polo match on US soil and the final game for each team before the Olympic Games.

In Beijing, the two teams took similar paths, both tying for first in their respective brackets while posting two wins and a tie. But while the Americans came out on top in their tie breaker and got a bye to the semi’s, the Aussies lost out to Hungary and had to play China in Sunday’s quarterfinal. The host country’s feisty squad put up a battle, but the Australians hung on to secure a 12-11 victory and stamp their ticket to the final four and a rematch of the “Blastoff to Beijing.”

This time there will be far more at stake.