USA Water Polo

Cal Bears Vault To Number Two In Women's College Varsity Top 20

3/9/2011 12:00:00 AM

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- The top teams in the nation remain the same as Stanford University and Occidental College held onto their No. 1 preseason national rankings for a seventh week in a row to top the Women's Varsity Top 20 and Division III Top 10 polls released today by the Collegiate Water Polo Association. In the CWPA polls, defending conference champion the University of Michigan and Grove City College continue to rate No. 1 in the league's Division I and Division III polls, respectively.

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 Varsity Top 20, Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10 polls are released on Wednesday during the season until the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.

Women's Varsity Top 20

Stanford University remains a unanimous selection at No. 1 in the nation as the Cardinal garnered 100 points to remain unchallenged in the March 9 Women's Varsity Top 20 Poll.

Ranked No. 1 in the preseason (98 points), and the first two polls of the regular season (99 points), the Cardinal clinched a unanimous spot on top of the poll four weeks ago and remain the consensus pick as the top program in the nation.

Unlike past weeks, the remainder of the Top 10 positions in the nation underwent a dramatic shift this week in the wake of an 8-3 victory by the University of California against the University of Southern California.

The win catapults Cal to No. 2 in the nation, a jump of three places from a fifth place ranking a week ago.  In addition, the Golden Bears rise to the runner-up spot forces USC back to No. 3 and drops the University of California-Los Angeles into a tie at No. 4 with the University of Hawaii.

Loyola Marymount University remains glued to the No. 6 position, while the University of Michigan inched up one place into a tie with Arizona State University at No. 7.

The No. 8-18 berths in the poll remain unchanged as San Diego State University, San Jose State University, Long Beach State University, University of California-Irvine, University of California-Santa Barbara, Hartwick College, University of California-Davis, California State University-Northridge, Indiana University and the University of California-San Diego held onto their positions.

At the final two positions in the Top 20, University of the Pacific and University of Maryland exchange positions with the Terrapins climbing one place to complete the rankings.

Women's Varsity Division III Top 10

The Division III Top 10 poll underwent minor changes this week behind continually No. 1 ranked Occidental College.

Occidental, which has held the No. 1 ranking since the preseason poll, expanded its lead to four points in front of the University of Redlands (99-to-95) for the top spot in the Division III rankings for another week.

The first three spots in the poll remain unchanged as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges picked up 87 points to remain at No. 3.

California Lutheran University is joined at No. 4 by Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, which moves up two places this week.  Whittier College falls to No. 6, with Chapman University, University of La Verne, Grove City College and Carthage College completing the Top 10.

The lone newcomer to the rankings is Washington & Jefferson College which picked up 11 points to miss out on cracking the Top 10.

Women's Varsity CWPA Division I Top 10

The University of Michigan continues to stand on top of the league poll as the three-time defending CWPA Eastern Champions are a unanimous selection once again for the top position in the CWPA Division I Poll.

Behind the Wolverines, Hartwick College and Indiana University continue at No. 2 and 3, respectively, as all 10 teams ranked in the March 2 poll retained their positions in this week's balloting.

The University of Maryland, Princeton University, Harvard University, Mercyhurst College, George Washington University, Brown University and Bucknell University remain at No. 4-10, respectively, as league competition continues this week.

Women's Varsity CWPA Division III Top 5

Defending conference champion Grove City College remains at No. 1 in the CWPA Division III standings as the team earned 100 points to become a unanimous top selection.

Grove City, which defeated Carthage College 8-7 to win the first-ever Division III Eastern Championship last season following the split of the women's CWPA varsity teams into Division and Division III brackets, hangs on at No. 1 thanks to a 5-0 mark during the opening weekend of CWPA Division III competition.

The Wolverines downed Chatham University, Penn State Behrend, Washington & Jefferson College, Connecticut College and Utica College, while Carthage College, Wheaton College, Macalester College have not competed in league competition to date this season.

Carthage remains at No. 2, with W&J climbing to No. 3 in front of Wheaton.  The sole newcomer to the rankings is Chatham which goes from unranked to No. 5 this week.

2011 CWPA Division III Poll (Week 7 - March 9)

Collegiate