USA Water Polo

Stanford Opens Women's Top 20 Poll In Top Spot

1/13/2010 12:00:00 AM

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- Stanford University, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, Hartwick College, the University of Michigan and Washington & Jefferson College will enter the 2010 season as the coaches early picks to win it all as the Cardinal, Sagehens, Hawks, Wolverines and Presidents topped the Women's Varsity Top 20, Division III Top 10, CWPA Division I Top 10 and CWPA Division III Top 5 preseason polls released today by the Collegiate Water Polo Association.

Voted on by a panel of coaches and administrators from around the country during the preseason and each week of the season based on the cumulative results of each team, the polls are released each Wednesday during the season until the Wednesday following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.

Women's Varsity Top 20 Poll

Stanford University will open the 2010 season on January 30 at the Cal Tournament as the top-ranked team in the nation as the Cardinal received 97 points to outdistance defending National Champion the University of California-Los Angeles (92 points, No. 3) and National Runner-Up the University of Southern California (95 points, No. 2) to take the No. 1 position in the 2010 Women's Varsity Top 20 Preseason Poll.

USC and UCLA, which played in the National Championship game a year ago at the University of Maryland, follow in second and third place, respectively, while the University of Hawaii, University of California and San Jose State University, which placed fourth through sixth in the final poll for the 2009 season, maintain their previous rankings entering the new season.

San Diego State University, Arizona State University, University of California-Irvine and the University of Michigan round out the preseason Top 10 as the 10 best squads in the nation according to the 2009 Polling Committee were selected again into the top half of the nation's top programs entering the 2010 campaign.

Loyola Marymount University, California State University-Northridge, Hartwick College, University of California-Davis, University of California-Santa Barbara, Long Beach State University, California State University-Bakersfield, Santa Clara University, Indiana University and Brown University round out the Top 20 teams in the nation, with the University of Maryland, Princeton University and Marist College falling just outside the Top 20.

Women's Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll

Similar to the Varsity Top 20 poll, the defending No. 1 team in the country will not enter the 2010 season as the No. 1 squad in the nation as Pomona-Pitzer Colleges earned 98 points to edge out former No. 1 California Lutheran University to rank as the No. 1 team in the Preseason Women's Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll.

Due to the University of California-Santa Cruz dropping women's water polo and California State University-East Bay moving up to Division II, the 2010 Women's Division III Poll experienced radical changes in the middle of the selections.

Occidental College and University of Redlands held firm at No. 3 and 4, respectively, from the final 2009 balloting, while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, Whittier College, Chapman University and Washington & Jefferson College improved on their final rankings from a year ago to move into the No. 5-8 positions.

Grove City College and Macalester College round out the Top 10, while University of La Verne and Connecticut College received votes.

Women's Collegiate Water Polo Association Division I Poll

The two best teams in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) the past several seasons will enter the 2010 season tied a top the conference rankings as four-time champion the University of Michigan (2002, 2005, 2008, 2009) and three-time titleist Hartwick College (2004, 2006, 2007) both received 98 points in the CWPA Division I Preseason Poll.

Michigan, which knocked off Hartwick the past two seasons in the Eastern Championship title game, comes into the year with a No. 10 ranking in the Varsity Top 20 poll, while the Hawks enter the new year at No. 13 in the Varsity Top 20.

Behind the Wolverines and Hawks, Brown University, Indiana University and Princeton University account for the No. 3-5 positions, while the University of Maryland, Harvard University, Bucknell University, George Washington University and Gannon University rank at No. 6-10, respectively.

Mercyhurst College falls just outside the Top 10 as the Lakers received 11 points in the preseason poll.

Women's Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Top 5 Poll

Washington & Jefferson College enters the 2010 season with a program first as the Presidents rank No. 1 in the inaugural Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Top 5 Poll.

Rounding out the poll are Grove City College, Carthage College (Ill.), Macalester College and Wheaton College (Ill.), while Connecticut College, Penn State University- The Behrend, College, Chatham University and Utica College all received votes.

Comprised of Carthage, Chatham, Connecticut College, Grove City, Macalester, PSU-Behrend, Utica, Washington & Jefferson and Wheaton, the nine-team organization will begin player this year with a goal of competing for a Division III Championship and a berth to the self-funded Division III National Collegiate Championship in May.

The change marked the first time an NCAA conference has divided its membership based on institutional affiliation without an NCAA Division II or III championship in the sport.  Women's water polo, which is an NCAA non-divisional sport, features only one championship event with five automatic qualifiers from the Collegiate Water Polo Association, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), along with three at-large selections from among the remaining eligible conference and independent teams.

* The Collegiate Water Polo Association did not conduct a poll for CWPA Division III in 2009

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