USA Water Polo

Stanford Women Remain In Top Spot Of Varsity Top 20 Poll

2/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- Stanford University, University of Redlands, Indiana University and Grove City College remain on top of the rankings as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) released the Week 2/February 1 Women's Varsity National Top 20, Division III Top 10, CWPA Division I/II Top 10 and CWPA Division III Top Five Polls.

With the young 2012 season still ramping up, the rankings saw few major changes across the board. The Women's Varsity National Top 20 did, however, see significant movement from the No. 12-20 positions.

Voted on by a panel of coaches from the CWPA, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California 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.

2012 WOMEN'S VARSITY NATIONAL TOP 20

2011 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion Stanford University retained top billing in the national water polo scene as the Cardinal garnered 100 points to retain a unanimous selection in the 2012 Women's Varsity Week 2/February 1 National Top 20 Poll.

The preseason No. 1, Stanford leads in a poll that saw no changes amongst the top 11 teams but lots of shuffling in the backend of the rankings.

The University of California (95 points) remains at No. 2, followed by the University of Southern California (USC) in No. 3 position with 89 points and the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) in fourth place with 87 points. San Jose State University (78 points), Arizona State University (75 points), University of California-Irvine (71 points), San Diego State University (61 points), Indiana University (58 points), the University of Hawaii (56 points) and Loyola Marymount University (46 points) each retained their at No. 5-to-11 rankings, respectively, from a weekend ago.

The remainder of the Top 20 underwent across the board changes led by the University of Michigan (41 points) and Hartwick College(39 points) swapping positions between No. 12 and No. 13. University of California-Davis (37 points), Long Beach State University(28 points) and the University of California-Santa Barbara (23 points) moved up one spot to No. 14-to-16, filling the gap left by theUniversity of California-San Diego (17 points) which slipped four spots to a tie four the No. 17 ranking. The University of Maryland(17 points) returned to the Top 20 after a preseason nod, earning a tie for No. 17. Princeton University (14 points) and California State University-Northridge (12 points) rounded out the Top 20. Colorado State University (5 points), Iona College (3 points),California Baptist University (2 points), University of the Pacific (1 point) and California State University-Bakersfield (1 point) received votes but did not crack the Top 20.

2012 WOMEN'S VARSITY DIVISION III TOP 10

The Women's Varsity Division III Top 10 poll conferred the unanimous tag to the University of Redlands as the top-ranked team retained No. 1 ranking in the February 1/Week 2 voting.

Redlands, which captured the 2011 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) title, concluded the 2011 season at No. 1 in the nation and will seek to repeat the feat in 2012.

Occidental College (92 points) overtook Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (91 points) for the No. 2 ranking in the country. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (86 points) and California Lutheran University(80 points) complete the Top Five, while Whittier College (75 points), Chapman University (69 points), University of La Verne (65 points), Grove City College (61 points) and Carthage College (44 points) round out the Top 10.Wheaton College (11 points) also received votes.

2012 WOMEN'S CWPA DIVISION I/II TOP 10

With only two teams in action over the weekend, Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) experienced very little change in the Week 2/February 1 CWPA Division I/II Top 10 Poll.

Defending CWPA Eastern Champion Indiana University (99 points), who went 3-1 at the UCSB Winter Invite, remained a top the conference rankings. Hartwick College (94 points) retained the No. 2 ranking behind the Hoosiers.  The University of Michigan (88 points) moved back in to a tie for third with Princeton University (88 points) after a week at No. 4.

The University of Maryland (81 points), Harvard University (75 points), Brown University (69 points),Bucknell University (66 points), George Washington University (59 points) and Mercyhurst University (56 points) finish out the Top 10.

2012 WOMEN'S CWPA DIVISION III TOP 5

The latest Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Top 5 saw no changes this week as Grove City College garnered 100 points to rank as the unanimous No. 1 pick in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Week 2/February 1 Top Five Poll.

The 2010 and 2011 CWPA Division III champion, as the league's Division III members elected to philosophically separate from the Division I/II programs two seasons ago to contest their own championship, Grove City is striving for the program's third consecutive crown in 2012.

Carthage College (93 points), Wheaton College (90 points), Washington & Jefferson College (87 points) andMacalester College (80 points) complete the Top Five teams in the league.

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