USA Water Polo

Few Changes In Women's Top 20; Stanford Remains In Top Spot

3/30/2011 12:00:00 AM

PHILADELPHIA, 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 tenth 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 30 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 seven weeks ago and remain the consensus pick as the top program in the nation.

The first seven positions in the poll remain unchanged from the March 23 poll as the University of California, University of Southern California, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Hawaii, Loyola Marymount University and the University of Michigan continue to rank at No. 2-7, respectively.

San Jose State University climbs one place to No. 8 to force Arizona State University back to No. 9 for the lone change among the first 17 teams ranked in this week's Top 20 poll.

 Long Beach State University, San Diego State University, Indiana University, University of California-Irvine, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of California-Davis and Hartwick College and California State University-Northridge remain at No. 10-17, while Princeton University moved into a tie with University of the Pacific at No. 18.

The University of California-San Diego cracks into the Top 20 this week to edge out five other teams which received one vote or more from the coaches.

Women's Varsity Division III Top 10

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

Occidental, which has held the No. 1 ranking since the preseason poll, continues to  remain in front of the University of Redlands by four or more points.

The 10 spots in the poll remain unchanged as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges continues at No. 3, while California Lutheran University and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges round out the Top Five teams.

At the No. 6-10 positions, Whittier College and Chapman University continue to hold a grip on the No. 6-7 spots, with University of La Verne, Grove City College and Carthage College completing the poll for another week.

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,  Indiana University used a tight 9-8 loss to Michigan to move into a tie with Hartwick College at No. 2. Princeton University and the University of Maryland continue at No. 4-5, respectively, as seven teams ranked in the March 23 poll retained their positions in this week's balloting.

The lone changes in the poll come at No. 6-8 as Harvard University and George Washington University moved up one place each in the wake of a Mercyhurst College loss to GW over the weekend.

Mercyhurst drops back to No. 8, with Brown University and Bucknell University retaining their previous positions at No. 9 and 10, respectively.

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 reign as a unanimous 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 I/II and Division III brackets, saw its lead over Carthage remain at five points (100-to-95).

Carthage remains in front of Washington & Jefferson College, Wheaton College and Chatham University as all five teams ranked in the March 23 poll held on for another week.

Collegiate