March 23, 2011

BRIDGEPORT, 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 ninth 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 23 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 six weeks ago and remain the consensus pick as the top program in the nation.

The first 11 positions in the poll remain unchanged from the March 16 poll as the University of California, University of Southern California, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Hawaii, Loyola Marymount University, University of Michigan, Arizona State University, San Jose State University, Long Beach State University and San Diego State University remain No. 2-11, respectively, behind the Cardinal.

Indiana University climbs one place to No. 12 to displace the University of California-Irvine by a point and mark the first change in the poll.

The University of California-Santa Barbara remains at No. 14, while the University of California-Davis and Hartwick College exchange slots with the Aggies climbing to No. 15.

California State University-Northridge retains the No. 17 position for another week, with University of the Pacific, Princeton University and the University of Maryland rounding out the Top 20.

2011 Varsity Top 20 (Week 9 - March 23)
Rank	Team	March 16 Poll	Points
1	Stanford University	1	100
2	University of California	2	95
3	University of Southern California	3	90
4	University of California, Los Angeles	4	84
5	University of Hawaii	5	79
6	Loyola Marymount University	6	76
7	University of Michigan	7	69
8	Arizona State University	8	67
9	San Jose State University	9	60
10	Long Beach State University	10	52
11	San Diego State University	11	48
12	Indiana University	13	45
13	University of California, Irvine	12	44
14	University of California, Santa Barbara	14	34
15	University of California, Davis	16	30
16	Hartwick College	15	26
17	California State University, Northridge	17	23
18	University of the Pacific	18 (T)	12
19	Princeton University	18 (T)	11
20	University of Maryland	NR	3
RV	California State University, East Bay	RV	2
RV	Iona College	20	2
RV	University of California, San Diego	RV	1
RV	California Baptist University	RV	1
RV	Mercyhurst College	NR	1

 

Women's Varsity Division III Top 10

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

Occidental, which has held the No. 1 ranking since the preseason poll, saw its lead explode out to five points in front of the University of Redlands (99-to-94) for the top spot in the Division III rankings after holding a slim two-point advantage last week.

The 10 spots in the poll remain relatively unchanged as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges remains at No. 3, while California Lutheran University inched in front of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges to break a tie at No. 4.

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 pulling out to a two point lead on Grove City College to claim sole possession of the No. 8 ranking.

Carthage College completes the poll for another week as the squad retained its position at No. 10, with Washington & Jefferson College receiving votes.

2011 Division III Poll (Week 9 - March 23)
Rank	Team	March 16 Poll	Points
1	Occidental College	1	99
2	University of Redlands	2	94
3	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges	3	88
4	California Lutheran University	4 (T)	86
5	Pomona-Pitzer Colleges	4 (T)	84
6	Whittier College	6	76
7	Chapman University	7	67
8	University of La Verne	8 (T)	65
9	Grove City College	8 (T)	63
10	Carthage College	10	50
RV	Washington & Jefferson College	NR	7

 

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, Indiana University, Princeton University and the University of Maryland continue at No. 2-5, respectively, as eight teams ranked in the March 16 poll retained their positions in this week's balloting.

The lone change in the poll is at No. 6 as Mercyhurst College moved ahead of Harvard University by two points (74-to-72) to drop the Crimson back to No. 7.

At No. 8-10, the rankings remain consistent with the March 9 balloting as  George Washington University, Brown University and Bucknell University retained their previous positions.

2011 CWPA Division I Poll (Week 9 - March 23)
Rank	Team	March 16 Poll	Points
1	University of Michigan	1	100
2	Hartwick College	2	93
3	Indiana University	3	92
4	Princeton University	4	83
5	University of Maryland	5	81
6	Mercyhurst College	7	74
7	Harvard University	6	72
8	George Washington University	8	65
9	Brown University	9	60
10	Bucknell University	10	55

 

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 expand to 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 16 poll held on for another week.

2011 CWPA Division III Poll (Week 9 - March 23)
Rank	Team	March 16 Poll	Points
1	Grove City College	1	100
2	Carthage College	2	95
3	Washington & Jefferson College	3	88
4	Wheaton College	4	85
5	Chatham University	5	82