IRVINE, Calif. — The USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Water Polo National Championship returns this season with competition headed back to Southern California on December 3-4 as Division III Eastern Champion Johns Hopkins University of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) and runner-up the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) will take on the top two teams from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) tournament.
Due to both Johns Hopkins and MIT being unable to host, the championship will occur in California for a third consecutive event as the champion and runner-up from the SCIAC qualify with the highest finisher earning the privilege to host.
Hosting rights have been critical to winning the event as Whittier College hosted the inaugural/2019 championship and defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, 5-3, to claim the National Championship. MIT finished in Third Place courtesy a 20-13 victory over Johns Hopkins.
Following the 2020 event being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the championship returned in 2021 with host Pomona-Pitzer Colleges topping Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 13-12, for the second USA Water Polo Division III Championship. Johns Hopkins avenged its 2019 defeat to MIT by clipping the Engineers, 11-10, to take Third Place.
