Collegiate Water Polo Association Releases 2023 Women’s Varsity Week 5/February 15 Top 25, Division III Top 10, CWPA Top 5 & CWPA Division III Top 5 Polls

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Stanford University and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges remain at No. 1 in the Division I and III ranks after five weeks of varsity competition as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2023 Week 5/February 15 Women’s Varsity National Top 25, Division III Top 10, CWPA Top Five and CWPA Division III Top Five Polls.

Stanford – which claimed the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) title – and Pomona-Pitzer – which garnered the USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Championship – in 2022 remain favorites to repeat as champions during the 2023 campaign.

The University of Michigan – which won the 2022 CWPA Division I Championship – continues at No. 1 in the group’s Top Five rankings, while 2022 CWPA Division III Champion Austin College acquires company in the top spot of the CWPA Division III Top Five Poll from Augustana College.

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.

2023 Women’s Varsity National Top 25 (Week 5/February 15)

The Cardinal of Stanford University remain the top team in the land by staying at No. 1 in the 2023 Women’s Varsity National Top 25 Week 5/February 15 Poll.

The Cardinal (99 points) keep their lead to three points compared to the University of Southern California (96 points) as USC continues to remain in striking distance of Stanford.  The University of California-Los Angeles (92 points), the University of California (88 points), the University of Hawaii (84 points), the University of California-Irvine (78 points), Arizona State University (74 points), Long Beach State University (72 points), the University of Michigan (68 points) and Fresno State University (65 points) once again conclude the Top 10.

University of the Pacific (58 points), Indiana University (56 points), Wagner College (48 points), Princeton University (47 points), the University of California-Santa Barbara (43 points), the University of California-San Diego (40 points), the University of California-Davis (38 points), Harvard University (32 points), San Jose State University (30 points), Brown University (21 points) and Long Island University (20 points) also remain stagnant as the first 21 positions in the Top 25 remain unchanged from the Week 4/February 8 voting.

The only change in the rankings compared to last week comes at No. 22 as San Diego State University (16 points) takes sole custody of the berth after tying with Loyola Marymount University (14 points) seven days ago.

Marist College (9 points) and California State University-Northridge (7 points) once again round out the Top 25.

2023 Women’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 5/February 15)

Pomona-Pitzer Colleges continues at No. 1 in the Women’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Week 5/February 15 Poll for the 2023 season.

Pomona-Pitzer (100 points) remains a unanimous top selection with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (92 points) hanging on at No. 2 for another seven day run.  The University of La Verne (88 points) and Whittier College (85 points) exchange the No. 3 and 4 spots with Chapman University (77 points), California Lutheran University (76 points) and the University of Redlands (70 points) retaining the No. 5-to-7 spots, respectively.

Austin College (65 points) breaks a tie with Augustana College (62 points) to remain at No. 8 and drop the Vikings back to No. 9.  Occidental College (49 points) concludes the Top 10 for another week.

2023 Women’s Varsity Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 5 (Week 5/February 15)

Defending Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Champion the University of Michigan stays at No. 1 in the 2023 CWPA Division I Top Five Week 5/February 15 Poll.

The 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 league champion, Michigan (100 points) now leads both 2022 CWPA Championship runner-up Harvard University (92 points) and Princeton University (92 points) by eight points as the Crimson and Tigers continue in a deadlock at No. 2.

Brown University (86 points) and Saint Francis University (64 points) wrap-up the Top Five.

2023 Women’s Varsity Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Top 5 (Week 5/February 15)

For the first time since March 4, 2020 – a span of 1,078 days – 2021 and 2022 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III champion Austin College is not the lone team ranked at No. 1 in the CWPA Division III Top Five Poll as Augustana College pulls even with the Kangaroos in the 2023 Week 5/February 15 voting. 

Austin (96 points) and Augustana (96 points) – which achieves the program’s inaugural No. 1 ranking – are now squared as the ‘Roos held a 98-to-96 lead over the Vikings last week.

The remainder of the Top Five remains consistent with the February 8 balloting as Macalester College (93 points) and Washington & Jefferson College (82 points) retain the No. 3 and 4 spots with Connecticut College (33 points) and Grove City College (33 points) remaining tied at No. 5.