Collegiate Water Polo Association Releases Week 1 Men’s Polls

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Photo Courtesy: Joon Baik

BRIDGEPORT, Pennsylvania, September 10. STANFORD University, Whittier College and Princeton University maintain their Preseason No. 1 rankings as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2014 Men’s Varsity Week 1/September 10 National Top 20, Division III Top 10 and CWPA Top 10 Polls.

Following two days of competition on Saturday-Sunday, September 6-7, the landscape of which teams are the best in the nation underwent significant changes.  However, the top-ranked teams remain unchanged as Stanford, which was dormant over the first weekend of play, continues to hang onto its position as the Top Team in the National Top 20 Poll.

In the Division III ranks, Whittier goes from being the top-ranked small college team in the nation to being a unanimous pick in the position as the Poets picked up 100 points to hold a dominating 11-point lead in the balloting.

Similar to the National Top 20 and Division III Top 10 poll, the Preseason favorite in the CWPA Top 10 continues to dominate after a weekend of competition as Princeton becomes the unanimous top pick in the league poll.

Voted on by a panel of coaches from the CWPA, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the polls are compiled and released on Wednesday during each week of the season through the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.

2014 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 (Week 1)

Stanford University may not have competed during the first weekend of permitted play in the varsity ranks, but the Cardinal remain the No. 1 team in the nation with 98 points to remain on top of the National Top 20 Poll in the Week 1/September 10 voting.

The Cardinal, which finished third in the final 2014 Poll and garnered the No. 1 position in the Preseason Poll of August 27, see a new team move into the No. 2 position as the University of California-Los Angeles (95 points) edges out defending National Champion and Preseason No. 2 the University of Southern California (91 points) for the runner-up spot after 48 hours of action.

Overall, only four teams in the National Top 20 held onto their Preseason ranking as Stanford (No. 1), the University of California (No. 4), the University of California-Santa Barbara (No. 7) and the University of California-Irvine (No. 8) hold firm inside the Top 10.

Behind the Cardinal, Bruins, Trojans and Golden Bears (87 points), Long Beach State University (79 points) inches ahead of 2013 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship runner-up University of the Pacific (74 points) to complete the Top Five.

Pacific, UC-Santa Barbara (73 points) and UC-Irvine (64 points) come in at No. 6-to-8, respectively, with the University of California-San Diego (61 points) and the University of California-Davis (51 points) rounding out the Top 10.

Princeton University (46 points) improves to No. 11, with Pepperdine University (45 points) falling back from No. 9 in the Preseason rankings to No. 12 this week.

Loyola Marymount University (42 points) moves up one position to No. 13, while Brown University (26 points) and the United States Naval Academy (26 points) tie at No. 14.

Santa Clara University (22 points) and Whittier College (18 points) climb to No. 16 and 17, respectively, to stand in front of the United States Air Force Academy (14 points) and Harvard University (14 points) which are tied at No. 18, and George Washington University (10 points) which completes the Top 20.

St. Francis College Brooklyn (7 points), Concordia University (6 points), California Baptist University (3 points), Bucknell University (3 points) and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (3 points) also received votes.

2014 Varsity Top 20 (Week 1/September 10)
Rank Team 2014 Preseason Poll Points
1  Stanford University 1 98
2  University of California-Los Angeles 3 95
3  University of Southern California 2 91
4  University of California 4 87
5  Long Beach State University 6 79
6  University of the Pacific 5 74
7  University of California-Santa Barbara 7 73
8  University of California-Irvine 8 64
9  University of California-San Diego 10 61
10  University of California-Davis 11 51
11  Princeton University 13 46
12  Pepperdine University 9 45
13  Loyola Marymount University 14 42
14 (T)  Brown University 18 26
14 (T)  United States Naval Academy 16 26
16  Santa Clara University 17 22
17  Whittier College 19 (T) 18
18 (T)  United States Air Force Academy RV 14
18 (T)  Harvard University 19 (T) 14
20  George Washington University RV 10
RV  St. Francis College Brooklyn 12 7
RV  Concordia University 15 6
RV  California Baptist University RV 3
RV  Bucknell University RV 3
RV  Pomona-Pitzer Colleges NR 3

2014 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 1)

The Poets of Whittier College (100 points), which are ranked No. 17 in the National Top 20 Poll, rate 16 spots better among small college institutions as the squad is the unanimous top choice after a week of play in the Week 1/September 10 National Division III Top 10 Poll.

Whittier, which received all but one first place vote in the Preseason voting, eliminated any question of its position as the Poets hold a commanding 11 point lead in the Division III Top 10 Poll over formerly No. 6-ranked and new runner-up Chapman University (89 points).

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (87 points) and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (87 points) fall and rise into a tie at the No. 3 position, while Johns Hopkins University (83 points) follows at No. 5 to complete the upper echelon of the Top 10.

California Lutheran University (73 points), the University of Redlands (72 points), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (68 points), the University of La Verne (36 points) and Occidental College (35 points) complete the Top 10.

Washington & Jefferson College (22 points) and Connecticut College (13 points) also received votes.

2014 Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 1/September 10)
Rank Team 2014 Preseason Poll Points
1  Whittier College 1 100
2  Chapman University 6 89
3 (T)  Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges 2 87
3 (T)  Pomona-Pitzer Colleges 4 87
5  Johns Hopkins University 3 83
6  California Lutheran University 5 73
7  University of Redlands 8 72
8  Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7 68
9  University of La Verne 10 46
10  Occidental College 9 35
RV  Washington & Jefferson College RV 22
RV  Connecticut College RV 13

2014 Men’s Varsity CWPA Top 10 (Week 1)

Following a weekend in which the defending league champion was felled twice by fellow Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) institutions in the same weekend for the first time in recent history, the runner-up from a year ago and Preseason favorite continues to stand at No. 1 in the Week 1/September 10 polling.

Princeton University, which finished second to St. Francis College Brooklyn last season in the CWPA Championship title game, proved its Preseason No. 1 selection was not a fluke as the Tigers downed the Terriers 10-5 in both teams’ season-opening game at the Princeton Invitational.

For the victory, the Tigers move from simply the No. 1 team in the league poll to a unanimous No. 1 pick by earning 100 points.

Overall, the results of the first weekend of play had a dramatic impact on the rankings as the Tigers join the United States Naval Academy (Third, 90 points) as the sole squads in the Top 10 to retain its ranking from the Preseason Poll.

Behind Princeton, Brown University (93 points) jumps three spots to take over at No. 2 in front of the Naval Academy Midshipmen.

Harvard University (85 points), George Washington University (77 points) and Johns Hopkins University (75 points) follow at No. four-to-six, respectively, as each improved its position by two berths from their prior sixth, seventh and eighth rankings.

Bucknell University (71 points) and St. Francis College Brooklyn (69 points) fall back to No. 7 and 8, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (46 points) and Fordham University (34 points) capping off the Top 10.

Mercyhurst University (23 points) and Iona College (12 points) also received votes.

2014 Varsity CWPA Top 10 (Week 1/September 10)
Rank Team 2014 Preseason Poll Points
1  Princeton University 1 100
2  Brown University 5 93
3  United States Naval Academy 3 90
4  Harvard University 6 85
5  George Washington University 7 77
6  Johns Hopkins University 8 75
7  Bucknell University 4 71
8  St. Francis College Brooklyn 2 69
9  Massachusetts Institute of Technology 10 (T) 46
10  Fordham University NR 34
RV  Mercyhurst University 9 23
RV  Iona College 10 (T) 12

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