BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Defending National Champion the University of California-Santa Barbara will begin the 2017 season as the No. 1-ranked team in the country as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2017 Women’s National Collegiate Club Preseason Top 20 Poll.
The first three positions in the National Top 20 remain unchanged from the final balloting of the 2016 season as the University of Michigan (94 points) and the University of California-Davis (90 points) trail UC-Santa Barbara (96 points). San Diego State University (88 points) moves ahead of the University of Florida (75 points) to begin the season at No. 4, with the Gators, the University of California (74 points), Grand Valley State University (71 points), the University of Notre Dame (66 points), California Polytechnic State University (64 points) and the University of Utah (47 points) round out the Top 10.
Middlebury College (46 points), Michigan State University (44 points), the University of Washington (34 points), Lindenwood University (29 points) and the University of Pittsburgh (25 points) rate at No. 11-to-15, with the University of Virginia (20 points), the University of California-Irvine (18 points), the University of Oregon (17 points), Arizona State University (14 points) and California State University-Chico (13 points) completing the Top 20.
The University of Texas (11 points), New York University (10 points), the University of California-San Diego (7 points), the University of Central Florida (3 points), Washington University in St. Louis (3 points) and Yale University (2 points) also received votes in the run-up to the 2017 women’s collegiate club season.
Voted on by a panel of collegiate club coaches from around the country, the Women’s National Collegiate Club Poll will be released each week beginning on Thursday, February 9, through the week following the National Collegiate Club Championship at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Friday-Sunday, May 5-7.
| Rank | Team | Final 2016 Poll | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 1 | 96 |
| 2 | University of Michigan | 2 | 94 |
| 3 | University of California-Davis | 3 | 90 |
| 4 | San Diego State University | 5 | 88 |
| 5 | University of Florida | 4 | 75 |
| 6 | University of California | 7 | 74 |
| 7 | Grand Valley State University | 6 | 71 |
| 8 | University of Notre Dame | 8 | 66 |
| 9 | California Polytechnic State University | 9 | 64 |
| 10 | University of Utah | 13 | 47 |
| 11 | Middlebury College | 11 | 46 |
| 12 | Michigan State University | 12 | 44 |
| 13 | University of Washington | 10 | 34 |
| 14 | Lindenwood University | 14 | 29 |
| 15 | University of Pittsburgh | 18 | 25 |
| 16 | University of Virginia | 16 | 20 |
| 17 | University of California-Irvine | NR | 18 |
| 18 | University of Oregon | 19 | 17 |
| 19 | Arizona State University | NR | 14 |
| 20 | California State University-Chico | 17 | 13 |
| RV | University of Texas | 20 | 11 |
| RV | New York University | 15 | 10 |
| RV | University of California-San Diego | NR | 7 |
| RV | University of Central Florida | RV | 3 |
| RV | Washington University in St. Louis | RV | 3 |
| RV | Yale University | RV | 2 |
