Orange Lutheran Replaces Brenda Villa with Fellow Olympian Melissa Seidemann as Coach
Orange Lutheran’s girls water polo program has gone from one Olympian to another, Melissa Seidemann this week announced as coach to replace Brenda Villa.
Villa resigned in August to become the associate head coach for Stanford’s women’s team. In her stead is a fellow former Stanford standout in Seidemann, one of only two American players (with Maggie Steffens) to win three Olympic gold medalists.
Seidemann was part of the 2012, 2016 and 2021 Olympic gold medal teams, the U.S.’s second-leading scorer at the London Olympics. She retired from the sport in 2023 and was inducted this year to the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame. Born in Illinois and a native of Walnut Creek, she was a standout at College Park High in Pleasanton before excelling for the Cardinal.
“I am incredibly honored and excited to be named the girls water polo head coach at Orange Lutheran,” Seidemann said in press release. “This program has a strong tradition of excellence, and I am eager to become a part of the community and build on that legacy. While our shared love for the game will unite us, my hope is to support each athlete in learning, growing, and reaching their full potential. I cannot wait to get started and see what we can accomplish together.”
Seidemann began coaching as an assistant at JSerra. She was hired in 2020 as the head coach at Corona del Mar, a job she held through 2023. The Sea Kings won the CIF-SS Division I title in 2022.
Seidemann inherits an Orange Lutheran program that has won three straight Trinity League crowns under Villa. It won the CIF SoCal Regional title and claimed two consecutive CIF-SS Open Divisions titles before falling to Newport Harbor in double overtime of the semifinals last year.