Collegiate Water Polo Association Releases 2026 Women’s Varsity Week 15/April 29/Final Top 25, Division III Top 10 & CWPA Division III Top 5 Polls

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2026 Week 15/April 29/Final Women’s Varsity National Top 25, Division III Top 10 and CWPA Division III Top Five Polls.

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champion the University of Southern California moves up from No. 2 to finish the year at No. 1 in the Top 25, while Pomona-Pitzer Colleges reacquires possession of the No. 1 spot in the Division III Top 10 after capturing the USA Water Polo Women’s Water Polo Division III National Championship title.  Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Champion Macalester College puts a bow on 2026 by staying at No. 1 in the CWPA Division III Top 5.

Voted on by a panel of coaches from around the country based on the cumulative results of the season, the polls are compiled and released on Wednesday during the season.

2026 Women’s Varsity National Top 25 (Week 15/Final)

The University of Southern California – which knocked off the University of California by a 10-9 score on Sunday, April 26, at the University of California-San Diego for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship – concludes the year at No. 1 in the 2026 Week 15/April 29/Final Women’s Varsity National Top 25 Poll.

USC (98 points) – which falls two points shy of being a unanimous top selection – leads a final Top 25 which features eight ties with the No. 3, 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 23 and 25 positions shared by a total of 17 teams.

California (94 points) moves up two positions to reflect its runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship, while the duo of Stanford University (92 points) and the University of California-Los Angeles (92 points) – which tied for third place at the NCAA Championship – share the No. 3 position in the Top 25.

Arizona State University (81 points) and the University of Hawaii (81 points) wrap-up the year in a tie at No. 5, while Loyola Marymount University (75 points) and Long Beach State University (75 points) are tied at No. 7.

Harvard University (62 points) is the first team either not involved in a tie or moving up in the rankings – as the Crimson retain the No. 9 station.

The Top 10 becomes a Top 12 as the trio of the University of California-Irvine (58 points), Princeton University (58 points) and Indiana University (58 points) share the No. 10 berth.

Fresno State University (49 points), the University of California-Davis (48 points) and the University of Michigan (46 points) stay at No. 13-to-15 with the University of California-San Diego (39 points) and San Diego State University (39 points) tying at No. 16.

Wagner College (31 points) and San Jose State University (31 points) share the No. 18 grade. 

Marist University (28 points), University of the Pacific (18 points) and California Baptist University (15 points) come in at No. 20-to-22 prior to Brown University (13 points) and Villanova University (13 points) rising from a tie at No. 25 last week to attaining standing in a tie at No. 23.

Concordia University (4 points) and California State University-Northridge (4 points) complete the Top 25 in the eighth and final tie in the final Top 25.

2026 Women’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 15/Final)

A week changes everything as Pomona-Pitzer Colleges – which fell in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) title game to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges at home on Saturday, April 18, by a 14-10 score – avenged the loss over the weekend with a 15-10 victory over the host Athenas to capture the 2026 USA Water Polo Women’s Water Polo National Collegiate Championship.  Courtesy the Division III National Championship, the Sagehens regain their former position at No. 1 in the Week 15/April 29/Final Women’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll.

Pomona-Pitzer (100 points) – which slipped back to No. 2 behind CMS last week – returns to the top of the rankings as a unanimous choice with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (95 points) sliding back to No. 2. 

California Lutheran University (90 points), Chapman University (85 points), Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Champion Macalester College (79 points), Whittier College (73 points), CWPA Division III runner-up Carthage College (72 points), Augustana College (62 points) and Occidental College (51 points) retain their prior berths at No. 3-to-9 with the University of Redlands (34 points) acquiring sole custody of the No. 10 position.

2026 Women’s Varsity Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Top 5 (Week 15/Final)

2026 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Champion Macalester College concludes the 2026 season at No. 1 in the Week 15/April 29/Final Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Top Five poll.

The 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2026 CWPA Division III champion Scots (100 points) – which downed Carthage College (95 points) by a 14-9 score on Sunday, April 12, to win the league’s Division III crown in Norton, Mass., at Wheaton College prior to topping the Firebirds by a 7-6 score on Sunday, April 26, at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges for Third Place at the 2026 USA Water Polo Division III Women’s Water Polo Collegiate Championship – leads a Top Five which experiences no changes from the Week 14/April 22 voting.

Carthage, Augustana College (90 points), Austin College (84 points) and Grove City College (49 points) maintain their prior positions in the rankings with Washington & Jefferson College (32 points) also receiving votes.