BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The University of Southern California remains the top-ranked team in women’s water polo as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2021 Week 9/April 7 Women’s Varsity National Top 25, Division III Top 5, CWPA Top 4 and CWPA Division III Top 5 Polls.
The University of Michigan and Austin College continue as unanimous leader in the CWPA Division I Top 4 and the Division III Top 5, respectively, while California Lutheran University also maintains top billing in the Division III Top 5 Poll.
Voted on by a panel of coaches from the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), the Golden Coast Conference, the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the Big West Conference, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and the CWPA based on the cumulative results of the season, the polls are compiled and released on Wednesday during the season.
2021 Women’s Varsity National Top 25 (Week 9/April 7)
The University of Southern California stays at No. 1 in the Week 9/April 7 Women’s Varsity Top 25 Poll.
USC (100 points) retains its status as a unanimous No. 1 pick and expands its lead to six points as Stanford University (94 points) and the University of California-Los Angeles (94 points) rate in a tie for the runner-up position. The University of California (88 points) rises two places to take over at No. 4 with Arizona State University (83 points) and the University of California-Irvine (80 points) backing up to No. 5 and 6.
The University of Michigan (77 points) stays at No. 7 with the University of Hawaii (69 points) and the University of California-San Diego (69 points) moving into a tie at No. 8.
The University of California-Davis (65 points), the University of California-Santa Barbara (58 points), Fresno State University (55 points), University of the Pacific (53 points), San Diego State University (47 points) and Indiana University (44 points) hang on at No. 10-to-15.
Long Beach State University (40 points) and San Jose State University (40 points) are tied at No. 16, while California Baptist University (30 points), Loyola Marymount University (27 points) and Azusa Pacific University (22 points) stand at No. 17-to-20, respectively.
Marist College (19 points) and Bucknell University (19 points) are tied at No. 21 with Santa Clara University (9 points) and Iona College (6 points) hanging on at No. 23 and 24.
The final position in the Top 25 belongs to five teams as Saint Francis University (2 points), Austin College (2 points), La Salle University (2 points), Salem University (2 points) and Concordia University (2 points) rate in a tie at No. 25.
2021 Women’s Varsity Top 25 (Week 9/April 7)
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| Rank | Team | Week 8 Poll |
Points |
| 1 |
University of Southern California |
1 | 100 |
| 2 (T) |
Stanford University |
2 | 94 |
| 2 (T) |
University of California-Los Angeles | 3 | 94 |
| 4 | University of California |
6 | 88 |
| 5 |
Arizona State University | 4 |
83 |
| 6 | University of California-Irvine |
5 |
80 |
| 7 |
University of Michigan | 7 |
77 |
| 8 (T) |
University of Hawaii |
8 |
69 |
| 8 (T) |
University of California-San Diego |
9 | 69 |
| 10 | University of California-Davis |
10 |
65 |
| 11 |
University of California-Santa Barbara |
11 |
58 |
| 12 |
Fresno State University |
12 |
55 |
| 13 |
University of the Pacific |
13 |
53 |
| 14 |
San Diego State University |
14 |
47 |
| 15 |
Indiana University | 15 |
44 |
| 16 (T) |
Long Beach State University |
16 |
40 |
| 16 (T) |
San Jose State University |
17 |
40 |
| 18 |
California Baptist University | 18 | 30 |
| 19 |
Loyola Marymount University |
19 | 27 |
| 20 |
Azusa Pacific University |
21 | 22 |
| 21 (T) |
Marist College | 20 |
19 |
| 21 (T) |
Bucknell University |
22 |
19 |
| 23 |
Santa Clara University |
23 |
9 |
| 24 |
Iona College |
24 |
6 |
| 25 (T) |
Saint Francis University |
RV |
2 |
| 25 (T) | Austin College |
RV |
2 |
| 25 (T) | La Salle University | 25 | 2 |
| 25 (T) | Salem University | RV | 2 |
| 25 (T) | Concordia University |
RV | 2 |
| RV | Villanova University |
RV | 1 |
| RV | Long Island University |
NR | 1 |
2021 Women’s Varsity Division III Top 5 (Week 3/April 7)
California Lutheran University retains its preseason, Week 1 and Week 2 ranking at No. 1 in the Week 3/April 7 Women’s Varsity Division III Top 5 Poll.
The Division III rankings are unique for 2021 as Cal Lutheran, Chapman University and the University of Redlands of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) elected to compete, while the California Institute of Technology, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, Occidental College, the University of La Verne, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and Whittier College are taking off the season due to the pandemic. In the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), Connecticut College, Macalester College, Utica College and Washington & Jefferson College are competing in minimal schedules and Monmouth College is taking off the season prior to eliminating women’s water polo following the 2020-21 academic year. Austin College, Carthage College, Grove City College, Penn State Behrend and Wittenberg University will contest full CWPA Division III league seasons.
Due to the number of teams competing, the normally Division III Top 10 poll was cut down to five teams to maintain proportionality between the number of competing programs and national ranking size.
Cal Lutheran (97 points) and Redlands (94 points) stay at No. 1 and 2, while Austin (93 points) surpasses Chapman (86 points) at No. 3.
Wittenberg (80 points) completes the Top 5 for another week.
2021 Women’s Varsity Division III Top 5 (Week 3/April 7)
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| Rank | Team | Week 2 Poll |
Points |
| 1 | California Lutheran University |
1 | 97 |
| 2 |
University of Redlands |
2 | 94 |
| 3 |
Austin College |
4 |
93 |
| 4 | Chapman University |
3 |
86 |
| 5 | Wittenberg University |
5 |
80 |
2021 Women’s Varsity Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 4 (Week 9/April 7)
Four-time defending Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Champion the University of Michigan remains the top team in the league as the Wolverines lead the 2021 CWPA Division I Week 9/April 7 Top Four Poll as a unanimous No. 1 selection.
The 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 league champion, Michigan (100 points) expands its lead to seven points over runner-up Bucknell University (93 points).
Saint Francis University (92 points) and first-year varsity program Mount St. Mary’s University (85 points) complete the Top 4.
2021 Women’s Varsity Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 4 (Week 9/April 7)
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| Rank | Team | Week 8 Poll |
Points |
| 1 | University of Michigan |
1 | 100 |
| 2 |
Bucknell University |
2 | 93 |
| 3 | Saint Francis University |
3 | 92 |
| 4 | Mount St. Mary’s University |
4 |
85 |
2021 Women’s Varsity Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Top 5 (Week 4/April 7)
2019 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III runner-up Austin College maintains its preseason, Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3 rankings as the Kangaroos stand at No. 1 in the Week 4/April 7 CWPA Division III Top 5 Poll.
A unanimous top selection, the ‘Roos (100 points) hold a five-point lead over Wittenberg University (95 points) with Penn State Behrend (86 points) and Washington & Jefferson College (51 points) staying at No. 3 and 4.
Macalester College (36 points) completes the rankings in the final position as the Scots crack the Top 5.
2021 Women’s Varsity Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Top 5 (Week 4/April 7)
|
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| Rank | Team | Week 3 Poll |
Points |
| 1 | Austin College |
1 | 100 |
| 2 |
Wittenberg University |
2 | 95 |
| 3 | Penn State Behrend |
3 | 86 |
| 4 | Washington & Jefferson College |
4 | 51 |
| 5 | Macalester College |
RV | 36 |
| RV | Connecticut College |
RV | 34 |
| RV | Grove City College |
5 | 32 |
