Sierra Pacific Championship Hunt Begins on February 21-22 at Brooks Aquatic Center

WOODLAND, Calif. -- The history of the division may only be two years, but the Sierra Pacific Division title hunt begins anew this weekend at the Charles Brooks Aquatic Center hosted by defending division champion the University of California-Davis.

The third season of the division fires-up with Davis holding hopes of making a third consecutive title game appearance, while California State University-Maritime Academy, University of California-Davis "B", University of California-Berkeley, Saint Mary's College, California State University-Chico and 2007 division and National Champion Fresno State University are looking to keep the home team out of the top spot in the division rankings and claim the No. 3 position in the National Collegiate Club Championship field.

Ranked No. 4 in the latest National Collegiate Club poll, Davis is coming off a third place finish at the 2008 National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the Unviersity of Oregon and is looking to move up the final standings to reign as the 2009 national champion.

Led by All-America selection and Sierra Pacific Most Valuable Player Kristina Forest, the Aggies will rely on their defense this season to return to the top spot in the national poll, having been one of three teams to hold the No. 1 ranking last year, and compete for the division and national titles.

However, a cake-walk to the title is not expected as the Aggies will have to get by a past national champion (Fresno State), the No. 17-ranked team in the nation (CSU-Chico) and four other teams all striving for the same goal:  come out of the weekend undefeated, get through the March 7-8 tournament also at UC-Davis and earn the top seed for the division championship tournament on April 18-19 at Cunningham Pool in Castlewood with a chance at running the table to the National Collegiate Club Championship.

In reality, UC-Davis does not need to win the divsion to earn a spot in the National Collegiate Club Championship field as the Aggies will host the collegiate club's penultimate event on May 1-3 and receive a bid to the championship no matter the outcome of the Sierra Pacific Division.

However, taking the division title is vital if the Aggies hope to advance in the field as finishing second or worse in the Sierra Pacific Division guarantees a potential national championship caliber game in the first contest of the tournament as UC-Davis will then be forced to take the host position (No. 16) and play the No. 1 position in the tournament based on last year's National Collegiate Club Championship results, the champion of the Pacific Coast Division.

How tough would the potential first round game be if UC-Davis is forced to take the No. 16 seed?  Consider the Pacific Coast Division currently contains the No. 1 (2008 National Champion California Polytechnic State University), No. 3 (University of California-Los Angeles) and No. 14 (University of California-San Diego) ranked teams in the nation, with each potentially coming out of their division seeking to keep their own title hopes alive at the expense of whichever team is holding down No. 16.

For the rest of the teams in the Sierra Pacific Division, nothing is guaranteed. 

If UC-Davis wins the division championship and takes the Sierra Pacific's earned No. 3 position in the NCCC field, the runner-up of the division will take the No. 16 seed and face the Pacific Coast Division champion in the first round.  However, in the history of the National Collegiate Club Championship format (men or women), a No. 16 team has ever knocked off a No. 1, a fact not lost on any of the division's teams. 

Subsequently, winning the Sierra Pacific Division is vital for all the teams as finishing second in the field, be it to UC-Davis or any of the other teams in the division, puts the program taking the No. 16 position in the toughest spot in the National Collegiate Club Championship field having to play through some of the most difficult match-ups to reach the title game.

Compete results and scores from all the games this weekend will be available here.