USA Water Polo

Stanford Stays In Top Spot Of Women's Varsity Top 20

4/6/2011 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 an 11th 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 April 6 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 eight weeks ago and remain the consensus pick as the top program in the nation.

The first five positions in the poll remain unchanged from the March 30 balloting as the University of California, University of Southern California, University of California-Los Angeles and  University of Hawaii continue to rank at No. 2-5, respectively.

Due to an 11-9 loss by formerly No. 6-ranked Loyola Marymount University to the University of California-Irvine, the backend of the Top 10 underwent radical changes.

The University of Michigan climbs one place to No. 6 to make history as the ranking marks the highest position earned by a team from the East Coast since the inception of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned competition.  San Jose State University goes to No. 7, while LMU drops back to No. 8 with San Diego State University and UC-Irvine completing the Top 10 at No. 9 and 10, respectively.

Arizona State University and Long Beach State University falls out the Top 10 to rank at No. 11 and 13 around No. 12 Indiana University.

The changes continue through the remainder of the Top 20 as Hartwick College jumps two places to No. 14, with the University of California-Santa Barbara, California State University-Northridge, University of California-Davis, Princeton University and University of the Pacific claiming the No. 15-19 spots.

Iona College moves into a tie with the University of California-San Diego at No. 20 to complete the Top 20 as 24 teams received one or more votes this week.

2011 Varsity Top 20 (Week 11 - April 6)

Women's Varsity Division III Top 10

The Division III Top 10 poll experienced four 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 first changes in the poll come at positions No. 4-6 as Whittier College climbed two places to take over at No. 4.  behind Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. 

California Lutheran University and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, which were ranked at No. 4 and 5 in the March 30 balloting, slide into a tie at No. 5.

Chapman University remains at No. 7 for another week, while the University of La VerneGrove City College tying at No. 8 to finish the differences from the March 30 poll.  CarthageCollege completes the poll for another week by holding on at No. 10. and 

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 regained sole possession of the runner-up position with 94 points.  The Hawks, who were tied with Indiana University at No. 2 last week,  pulled ahead of the idle Hoosiers who fall to third with 91 points.  The poll is in conflict with the National Top 20 poll which ranks Hartwick at No. 14, with Indiana coming in at No. 12.

The remainder of the rankings remain consistent with the March 30 poll as the University of Maryland, Harvard University, George Washington University, Mercyhurst College, Brown University and Bucknell University retaining their previous positions at No. 5-10.

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 30 poll held on for another week.

Collegiate