May 16, 2013

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- Following 17 weeks of back-and-forth competition that saw teams rise from the depths of the unranked to rate among the nation's best in women's water polo, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the final Women's Varsity National Polls for the 2013 season.

The results of the Week 17/May 15/Final balloting following the 2013 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship at Harvard University's Blodgett Pool are similar to the Week 16/May 8 results with a few teams improving their final positions in the aftermath of the National Championship tournament.

The University of Southern California, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, Princeton University and Connecticut College wrap-up the 13th season of women's varsity water polo in the NCAA as the top squads in the National Top 20, Division III Top 10, CWPA Top 10 and CWPA Division III Top Five, respectively, to maintain their slots from before the NCAA Championship.

Voted on by a panel of coaches from the CWPA, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern Califrornia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), Big West Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the polls are compiled and released on Wednesday during the season through the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.

2013 Women's Varsity National Top 20

The University of Southern California, which knocked off Stanford University 10-9 in triple sudden death overtime for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship at Harvard University, wraps up the season as the unanimous No. 1 team in the 2013 Week 17/May 14/Final Women's Varsity National Top 20 Poll.

USC, which held the No. 1 position this year from the Week 6/February 27 through the Week 12/April 10 balloting before returning to the No. spot two weeks ago after downing Stanford for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championship, leads a Top 20 which experienced cosmetic changes in the wake of the NCAA Championship.

Stanford (95 points), which has ranked at No. 1 eight times this year as the Cardinal topped the Preseason Poll before holding the pole position through Week 1-to-5 of the weekly balloting, brought to an end USC's first run at No. 1 this year.  Following a two-week reign back in the pole position during the Week 13/April 17 and Week 14/April 24 polls, Stanford remains at No. 2 as neither the Cardinal nor the Women of Troy have ranked lower than No. 2 all season.

Overall, the Top Seven positions remain unchanged as the University of California-Los Angeles (90 points),Arizona State University (84 points), University of California (79 points), University of Hawaii (77 points) and the University of California-Irvine (69 points) remain locked in at No. 3-to-7, respectively.

The first changes come at No. 8 as Long Beach State University (62 points) attains sole possession of the position after tying with San Jose State University last week.  Princeton University (58 points) and San Diego State University (54 points) both inch up one spot to take over at No. 9 and 10, while San Jose State (51 points) slips to No. 11.

The University of California-San Diego (46 points) and the University of Michigan (34 points) stay at No. 12 and 13, with Loyola Marymount  University (32 points) and California State University-Northridge (32 points) moving into a tie at No. 14.

The University of California-Santa Barbara (25 points), Indiana University (24 points),  the University of California-Davis (15 points) and Hartwick College (14 points) rate at No. 16-to-19, with the University of the Pacific (11 points) breaking into the Final Top 20 of the 2013 season.

 2013 Women's Varsity Division III Top 10

 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, which shocked Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Champion Iona College in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Seventh Place game, once again tops the Division III Top 10 as the Sagehens remain in the preeminent position among small college teams in the Week 17/May 15/Final Women's Varsity Division III Top 10 poll.

It marks the 10th time this year Pomona-Pitzer (100 points) has topped the Division III Poll as the team opened the year with seven consecutive weeks (Preseason-to-Week 6) on top of the standings before Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges took over from the Week 7/February 27 until the Week 10/March 27 rankings.

Following CMS run, California Lutheran University jumped up to No. 1 in the Week 11/April 3 rankings prior to Clarermont-Mudd-Scripps reclaiming the top spot in the Week 12/April 10 through Week 14/April 24 polls before the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SCIAC) Champion Sagehens regained the lead position two weeks ago.

The Top 10 remains unchanged from the May 8 voting as the University of Redlands (95 points), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (90 points), Occidental College (85 points), Cal Lutheran (80 points), Chapman University(73 points), Whittier College (69 points), Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III ChampionConnecticut College (68 points), the University of La Verne (60 points) and Grove City College (33 points) round out the Top 10, with Washington & Jefferson College (11 points) also receiving votes. 

 2013 Women's CWPA Top 10

The Tigers of Princeton University, which finished in Fifth Place at the 2013 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship with a 12-10 overtime victory against the University of California-San Diego, picks up 100 points again this week after claiming the program's second-consecutive Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Championship two weeks ago to remain at No. 1 in the Week 17/May 15/Final CWPA Top 10 voting.

Overall, it marks the ninth time the Black & Orange have topped the league standings in 2013 as Princeton stood at No. 1 in the Preseason to Week 4/February 13 polls before falling down the rankings.  The team returned to No. 1 in the Week 8/March 20 Poll, but could not hold the ranking in falling down the standings until the squad's current three-week run in the top position.

The rankings reflect the final standings of the CWPA Eastern Championship at the University of Michigan's Donald B. Canham Natatorium as the host Wolverines (95 points), which fell 7-5 to Princeton in the title game, stays at No. 2, Indiana University (90 points) holds at No. 3, Hartwick College (85 points) is locked in at No. 4 and Brown University (80 points) retains a vice-grip on the No. 5 spot to round out the Top Five programs in the league.

 Harvard University (75 points), Bucknell University (70 points), George Washington University (65 points), Connecticut College (47 points) and Gannon University (46 points) complete the Top 10. 

2013 Women's CWPA Division III Top 5

Connecticut College, which claimed a 6-3 win over 2010, 2011 and 2012 Division III Champion Grove City College at home during the 2013 Division III Championship a month ago and stopped Gannon University and Mercyhurst University three weeks ago at the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Championship on the campus of the University of Michigan, retains the No. 1 position in the Week 17/May 15/Final CWPA Division III Top Five Poll. 

Grove City (96 points), which held the No. 1 spot for 29 consecutive weeks prior to falling to the Camels (97 points) twice in as many weeks, stays at No. 2. 

Washington & Jefferson College (91 points) holds on at No. 3, while Carthage College (85 points) andMacalester College (80 points) retain the No. 4 and 5 spots, respectively, to complete the league Division III season.