USC Finishes Shortened 2020 Season Atop Women’s Water Polo Top 25 Poll

With the NCAA announcement that spring sports championships are cancelled and nearly all institutions calling off the remainder of their 2020 spring campaigns, the Collegiate Water Polo Association has announced its final poll.

Only seven contests were played on Week 9, none involving Top 25 teams.

March 9.
10 p.m. Connecticut College at Chapman cancelled
10 p.m. Penn State Behrend at Occidental Occidental 19-8
March 10.
10 p.m. Penn State Behrend at Cal Tech Penn State Behrend 13-10
March 11.
7 p.m. Chapman at La Verne La Verne 17-4
10 p.m. Cal Lutheran at Cal Tech Cal Lutheran 23-5
10 p.m. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Whittier Whittier 10-9 OT
10 p.m. McKendree vs. Cal State Monterey Bay Cal State Monterey Bay 17-9
10 p.m. Occidental at Redlands Redlands 8-5

USC, the 2019 NCAA runnerup, wraps the 2020 season as #1, following a 12-1 campaign. The Trojans, which ended the season on a six-game win streak, suffered their lone loss of the season on Feb. 9, falling to then-#3 UCLA 7-5. USC was listed at #1 in eight of the 10 polls, spending the first four weeks including the preseason poll on top, and the last four weeks, beginning Feb. 26.

Stanford, the 2019 champion, ends the year at #2, a spot the Cardinal occupied in eight of 10 polls, save two weeks at #1 (Feb. 12, Feb. 19). The Cardinal went 15-1, dropping their lone contest in the championship match of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational, a 10-5 decision to then-#4 USC.

UCLA spent the entire season in the Top 5, including five weeks at #2, where the Bruins ended up the final two polls. The Bruins were 19-2, 2-0 in the MPSF at season’s end. The team’s lone losses came Jan. 17 to then-#11 UC Santa Barbara (9-8) and Feb. 22 vs. #4 USC (9-7).

Hawaii and UC Irvine round out the Top 5 at #4 and #5 respectively, occupying those positions from Feb. 26 on through the final poll. The Rainbow Wahine went 11-2, while the Anteaters were 15-5.

Movement from the March 11 poll to the final poll came in small shifts.

UC San Diego moved up one spot to #10, while Fresno State dropped from #10 to #11. The Tritons went 13-7 and 1-1 in Big West action. The Bulldogs posted an 8-7 mark and ended the season on a five-game win streak.

UC Davis climbed from #18 to #17, while Wagner dropped from #17 to #18.  The Aggies were 8-12 on the year, while the Seahawks went 14-5 including a final five-match win streak.

Harvard moved from #21 into a tie for #20 with Princeton. The Crimson were 12-2 on the year, while the Tigers posted an 8-3 mark.

Marist bumped up a spot from #24 to a tie for #23 with Bucknell. The Red Foxes were 5-12, including a 12-11 overtime win over #17 Harvard on March 7. The Bison went 15-4 including a 3-1 record in their final four matches (March 7-8).

Brown dropped out of the Top 25, from #25 into the ranks of the vote getters. The Bears were 12-2 and won their final three matches, including an 11-9 win over #24 Marist on March 7 and a 15-14 sudden death win over Iona on March 8.

Cal Lutheran went from unlisted to receiving votes in the final poll. The Regals were one of the last teams to play, notching a 23-5 win over Cal Tech on March 11, to move to 8-4.

Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 25 Poll
FINAL 2020 (March 18)

Rank Team Week 8 Poll Points
1 University of Southern California 1 100
2 (T) Stanford University 2 (T) 94
2 (T) University of California-Los Angeles 2 (T) 94
4 University of Hawaii 4 88
5 University of California-Irvine 5 84
6 Arizona State University 6 80
7 University of Michigan 7 75
8 University of California-Santa Barbara 8 71
9 University of California 9 68
10 University of California-San Diego 11 62
11 Fresno State University 10 60
12 (T) Loyola Marymount University 12 (T) 53
12 (T) Long Beach State University 12 (T) 53
14 San Jose State University 14 48
15 Indiana University 15 43
16 San Diego State University 16 40
17 University of California-Davis 18 34
18 Wagner College 17 30
19 California State University-Northridge 19 27
20 (T) Harvard University 21 24
20 (T) Princeton University 20 24
22 University of the Pacific 22 14
23 (T) Bucknell University 23 11
23 (T) Marist College 24 11
25 California Baptist University 25 (T) 4
RV California State University-East Bay RV 3
RV Brown University 25 (T) 2
RV Azusa Pacific University RV 1
RV California Lutheran University NR 1

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