Arizona State Rises To Third In Varsity Top 20

March 6, 2013

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- The University of Southern California continues to reign as the uncontested queens of collegiate water polo as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the Week 7/March 6 National Top 20, Division III Top 10, CWPA Division I/II Top 10 and CWPA Division III Top Five.

USC, which defends the No. 1 ranking for the first time this season after knocking Stanford University from the top perch last week, is one of three teams to retain a No. 1 position joining Indiana University (CWPA Division I/II Top 10) and Grove City College (CWPA Division III Top Five).

Unlike the three other polls, however, change comes to the Division III Top 10 as Claremont-Mudd-Scrippsdisplaces Pomona-Pitzer Colleges for the top spot among small colleges.

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.

2013 Women's Varsity National Top 20

The University of Southern California garnered 100 points for a second week in a row to retain its position as the unanimous top team in the 2013 Week 7/March 6 Women's Varsity National Top 20 Poll.

USC, which displaced Stanford University (95 points) for the top position a week ago, leads a Top 10 which saw three changes from the Week 6/February 27 balloting.

Stanford stays at No. 2 for another week, while the No. 3 position exchanges hands with Arizona State University (90 points) climbing past theUniversity of California-Los Angeles (85 points) in the wake of a 7-6 Sun Devils victory versus the Bruins over the weekend.

The University of California (80 points) holds at No. 5 with the University of California-Irvine (74 points) and San Diego State University (71 points) trading the No. 6 and 7 positions.  The University of Hawaii(65 points) and Long Beach State University (59 points) rate at No. 8 and 9, respectively, while San Jose State University (53 points) attains sole possession of the No. 10 berth after tying with Indiana Universityfor the position last week.

Indiana (51 points) falls out of the Top 10 to No. 11, with Princeton University (43 points), University of California-Davis (38 points) and Loyola Marymount University (31 points) standing at No. 12-to-14, respectively. California State University-Northridge (29 points) and the University of California-Santa Barbara (29 points) remain locked in a tie at No. 15.

The University of California-San Diego (25 points), the University of Michigan (13 points), Hartwick College (12 points) and the University of the Pacific (8 points) complete the Top 20.

 

2013 Women's Varsity Division III Top 10

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges finally surpasses Pomona-Pitzer Colleges as the Athenas picked up 100 points to rate as a unanimous top choice in the 2013 Week 7/March 6 Women's Varsity National Division III Top 10 Poll.

CMS, which ranked behind the Sagehens for most of the season's early going, jumps to No. 1 in part due to a 9-8 loss by Pomona-Pitzer to California Lutheran University, combined with an 11-9 victory by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps over Cal Lutheran over the weekend.

Cal Lutheran (95 points) joins the Athenas in moving up one place to take over at No. 2, while the Sagehens (89 points) fall to No. 3.

The No. 4-to-6 positions remain unchanged with the University of Redlands (82 points), Occidental College (81 points) and Whittier College (74 points) holding on for another week.

Chapman University (70 points) moves up two spots to take over at No. 7, while University of La Verne (68 points) and Grove City College (61 points) slip to No. 8 and 9.

Washington & Jefferson College (22 points), which held the No. 10 berth last week, receives company in the spot as the Camels of Connecticut College (22 points) join the Presidents in the final spot.

 

2013 Women's CWPA Division I/II Top 10

The Week 7/March 6 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division I/II Top 10 Poll is moderately changed from last week's balloting as Indiana University (96 points) extends its lead at the top of the league standings to three points over Princeton University (93 points).

Indiana, which held a narrow single point lead last week, gains some breathing room thanks to shifts lower in the rankings.  Princeton, which was tied with the University of Michigan (91 points), last week stays in the runner-up position, while the Wolverines fall off the pace to slip to No. 3.

Hartwick College (90 points), which was within four points of the No. 1 position last week, stays at No. 4 to mark only of four teams in the Top 10 to retain its position frorm the Week 5 poll.

The No. 6-to-8 spots all change hands this week as Harvard University (80 points) rises one place to No. 5, while Brown University (73 points) jumps two places to No. 6.

George Washington University (70 points) and Bucknell University (67 points) slide to No. 7 and 8, respectively, with Mercyhurst University (60 points) and Notre Dame College (44 points) rounding out the Top 10.

 

2013 Women's CWPA Division III Top 5

The 2010, 2011 and 2012 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Champion Wolverines of Grove City College (99 points) remain the top selection as the No. 1 team in the Week 7/March 6 CWPA Division III Top Five Poll.

The No. 1 pick of the league's coaches for the 25th consecutive week, the Wolverines captured their third consecutive CWPA Division III crown last year and continue to reign as the dominant team in the league rankings.

Overall, the Top Five positions remain relatively unchanged from last week asConnecticut College (95 points) and Washington & Jefferson College (88 points) hang on at No. 2 and 3, respectively.

The lone change in the standings comes at No. 4 as Carthage College (84 points) is joined by Macalester College (84 points) to round out the Top Five.  Last week, Carthage held sole possession of the No. 4 position.