USC Women Maintain Top Spot In CWPA Week 5 Varsity National Rankings

Courtesy: Collegiate Water Polo

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The University of Southern California maintains its status at No. 1 as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2021 Week 5/March 10 Women’s Varsity National Top 25, CWPA Top Four and CWPA Division III Top 5 Polls.

The Division III Top 10 Poll is deferred until next week to permit a select group of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SCIAC) to begin competition.

The University of Michigan also retains its preseason, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4 billing as the Wolverines are a unanimous top selection in the CWPA Top 4 Poll.  The poll shrank from a Top Five to a Top Four last week as George Washington University elected to not compete in 2021.

Austin College leads the preseason CWPA Division III Top 5 as defending champion Macalester College will not compete in a full league schedule this year.

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 5/March 10)

The University of Southern California holds onto the position as the No. 1 team in the nation by six points in the Week 5/March 10 Women’s Varsity Top 25 Poll.

USC (100 points) becomes a unanimous top selection as the team holds a six point lead over Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) nemesis the University of California-Los Angeles (94 points).

UCLA’s rise to the No. 2 position drops Stanford University (91 points) back to No. 3, while the University of California-Irvine (88 points) hangs on at No. 4 for another seven-day stretch.

A four-way tie at No. 5 last week is shattered in the March 10 voting as Arizona State University (86 points), the University of California (79 points), the University of Hawaii (72 points) and the University of Michigan (71 points) reposition to rate at No. 5-to-8, respectively.

The University of California-Santa Barbara (70 points) and the University of California-San Diego (64 points) remain at No. 9 and 10, respectively, for another week.

Fresno State University (61 points) and the University of California-Davis (58 points) trade the No. 11 and 12 spots with Indiana University (49 points) clinging to the No. 13 position.

San Diego State University (48 points) jumps two berths to take over at No 14 to move ahead of San Jose State University (41 points) and Long Beach State University (41 points) which are tied at No. 15.

Loyola Marymount University (36 points) and University of the Pacific (36 points) are tied at No. 17 with Marist College (26 points) staying at No. 19.

Azusa Pacific University (24 points), Bucknell University (21 points), California Baptist University (20 points), Santa Clara University (8 points), Iona College (7 points) and Saint Francis University (4 points) complete the Top 25 by holding the final six positions.

2021 Women’s Varsity Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 4 (Week 5/March 10)

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 Top Four Week 5/March 10 Top Four Poll as a unanimous No. 1 selection.

The 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 league champion, Michigan (100 points) holds a five-point lead over runner-up Bucknell University (95 points).

Saint Francis University (90 points) and first-year varsity program Mount St. Mary’s University (85 points) complete the Top Four.

The poll is a change from the previously released Top Five as George Washington University, Princeton University, Harvard University and Brown University elected to not compete in 2021.

2021 Women’s Varsity Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Top 5 (Preseason/March 10)

2019 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III runner-up Austin College will open the season as the preseason favorite to capture the title as the Kangaroos lead the Preseason/March 10 CWPA Division III Top 5 Poll.

A unanimous top selection, the ‘Roos hold a six point lead over Carthage College (94 points) with Wittenberg University (90 points) coming in at No. 3.

Grove City College (86 points) and Penn State Behrend (48 points) complete the Top Five heading into the 2021 season.