BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) has released the Women's Varsity Division III schedule of games for the 2010 season.

Comprised of Carthage College (Ill.), Chatham University (Pa.), Connecticut College (Conn.), Grove City College (Pa.), Macalester College (Minn.), Pennsylvania State University-Behrend College, Utica College (N.Y.), Washington & Jefferson College (Pa.) and Wheaton College (Ill.), the nine-team organization will compete for a Division III Championship and a berth to the self-funded Division III National Collegiate Championship in May.

The structure is a change from the CWPA's previous format in which all of the varsity members of the league were divided into three divisions (North, South, West) with all of the programs competing for one of eight spots to the Eastern Championship.

However, the CWPA membership voted to divide the league into separate Division I and III structures during the summer months which allowed for the creation of an exclusively Division III structure inside the league.

The change marks the first time an NCAA conference has divided its membership based on institutional affiliation without an NCAA Division II or III championship in the sport. Women's water polo, which is an NCAA non-divisional sport, features only one championship event with five automatic qualifiers from the Collegiate Water Polo Association, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), along with three at-large selections from among the remaining eligible conference and independent teams.

Carthage, Macalester and Wheaton, which were NCAA independent institutions prior to joining the CWPA during the Summer of 2009, and the six pre-existing CWPA member institutions will retain all benefits of membership in the CWPA, including votes at the league's Annual Meeting in addition to eligibility for All-Conference and All-Academic awards from the league.

Similar to previous seasons in which the institutions were eligible for either the Northern, Southern or Western Division All-Conference Teams, the Division III institutions' student-athletes will be selected to a fourth All-Division Team exclusively for their membership.

Competition in the new structure will begin on March 5-6 at Chatham University in Pittsburgh as Grove City, Wheaton, Chatham, Macalester, Carthage and Washington & Jefferson will compete in a 12-game event featuring the Division III West teams at the Central teams.  The competition will continue on March 7 at Washington & Jefferson as the Presidents will host Macalester, Carthage and Chatham.

On March 26-27, Penn State Behrend, Connecticut College, Utica, Macalester and Carthage will travel to Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois in the "East at West" cross-over event which will feature 15-games.

The Central teams will travel to the East on April 9-11 as Connecticut hosts Grove City, Utica, Chatham, Washington & Jefferson and Penn State-Behrend in a 15-game tournament to conclude regular season competition.

All nine teams will then converge on Utica College in Utica, N.Y. for the 15-game Division III Eastern Championship to decide the Collegiate Water Polo Association's best small-college program and which program advances on to the self-funded Division III National Championship Tournament.