Week 2 of the collegiate women’s water polo season featured five upsets, bringing some major changes to the middle of the CWPA Top 25 poll. In spite of the shakeup, the team at the top remained the same. After posting a 2-0 record at the Lancer Joust in Riverside, California, to open the 2020 season, #1 USC topped the CWPA Top 25 Poll for the third week in a row.
The Trojans bested host Cal Baptist 17-2 and Concordia (Irvine) 25-2. Grace Tehaney put in four goals against the Lancers, while Bayley Weber and Sabrina Garabet put in five apiece vs. the Eagles.
Stanford remains at #2 for the third-straight week, while UCLA, Hawaii and UC Irvine round out the top five.
The Bruins moved up two spots from #5 to #3 after going 4-0 at the Michigan Invitational, defeating #11 Pacific 14-7, #7 Michigan 12-4, #25 Marist 14-4 and #21 Wagner 16-6.
Hawaii did not play in Week 2, and held (effectively) the same position. UC Irvine dropped two places in the poll after posting a 2-2 mark at the Cal Cup. The Anteaters topped #18 San Jose State 14-6 and #13 Fresno State 14-6, but fell to #6 Cal 12-11 and #2 Stanford 10-9.
San Jose State made the biggest climb of the week, jumping five spots from #18 to #13. The Spartans notched a pair of one-goal victories – besting #13 Fresno State 7-6 and #6 Cal 9-8. SJSU also dropped contests to #3 UC Irvine 14-6 and #12 UC Davis 8-7. Lili Urvari and Olga Descalzi Portell put in two goals apiece in the win over Fresno State, while Urvari notched four scores in the upset of Cal.
Wagner moved up three spots from #21 to #18 and Indiana climbed from #23 to #20. The Seahawks opened the season with a 1-3 record at the Michigan Invitational, with their lone victory coming against the Hoosiers 18-17 in sudden death. Wagner rounded out the weekend with losses to #7 Michigan 11-8, #9 UC Santa Barbara 11-7 and #5 UCLA 16-6. Sofia Diaz Alvarez put in eight goals against Indiana to lead all Week 2 scorers.
For its part, Indiana posted a 2-2 mark at the Michigan Invite, falling to #9 UC Santa Barbara 10-9 and Wagner, before bouncing back with victories over #11 Pacific 13-5 and #24 Marist 10-8. Tina Doherty netted a hat trick vs. Pacific, while Megan Abarta notched three goals vs. Marist.
Cal Lutheran earned a spot among the vote getters outside of the Top 25 despite having yet to play a match in 2020. The Regals open the season on Feb. 22 in Fresno, California.
Pacific was the biggest mover of the week, falling seven positions from #11 to #18. The Tigers went 1-3 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, scoring their lone victory with a 12-11 decision over #24 Marist and falling to #5 UCLA 14-7, #7 Michigan 7-4 and #23 Indiana 13-5.
Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Top 25 Poll – Jan. 29, 2020
Rank | Team | Week 1 Poll | Points |
1 | University of Southern California | 1 | 100 |
2 | Stanford University | 2 | 96 |
3 (T) | University of California-Los Angeles | 5 | 89 |
3 (T) | University of Hawaii | 4 | 89 |
5 | University of California-Irvine | 3 | 85 |
6 | University of California | 6 | 77 |
7 | University of Michigan | 7 | 76 |
8 | University of California-San Diego | 8 | 72 |
9 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 9 | 68 |
10 | Arizona State University | 10 | 64 |
11 | University of California-Davis | 12 | 57 |
12 | Fresno State University | 13 | 56 |
13 | San Jose State University | 18 | 55 |
14 | Long Beach State University | 14 (T) | 43 |
15 | Princeton University | 14 (T) | 39 |
16 | Loyola Marymount University | 16 | 37 |
17 | Harvard University | 17 | 35 |
18 (T) | University of the Pacific | 11 | 28 |
18 (T) | Wagner College | 21 | 28 |
20 | Indiana University | 23 | 24 |
21 | California State University-Northridge | 19 | 23 |
22 | San Diego State University | 20 | 22 |
23 | Bucknell University | 22 | 16 |
24 | Marist College | 25 | 12 |
25 | Azusa Pacific University | 24 | 6 |
RV | Brown University | RV | 2 |
RV | California Baptist University | RV | 1 |
RV | California Lutheran University | NR | 1 |
RV | California State University-East Bay | RV | 1 |