2017 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Tournament: 1st Round Action Starts Today in Indianapolis

Indianapolis Natatorium. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor

The 2017 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Tournament opens today on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus, and joining the nation’s top teams are a pair of first-time entrants to NCAA play. The University of Pacific and Wagner College both won tournament games for the first time, as they advanced from play-in matches last Saturday to join the rest of the eight team field at the Indianapolis Natatorium.

UCLA, Stanford, USC and Cal—the top four teams in the country—will all be playing competitive matches indoors for the first time this season. #1 UCLA (22-1) boasts two members of the U.S. squad that captured gold at the Rio Olympics last August. Rachel Fattal—named Wednesday as one of three finalists for the Peter J. Cutino Award, given to the nation’s top female water polo player—and Maddie Musselman, who leads UCLA with 55 goals—have combined with an experienced core of fifth-year seniors to lead the Bruins. They will face Wagner (26-10) at noon (EDT) in the first match of the day.

<UCLA Opens 2017 NCAA WWP Tournament with 17-2 Drubbing of Wagner>

The Seahawks might be forgiven if they are just happy to be one of final eight teams in the NCAA’s first round. At UCLA, the measure for success is very high for all their teams, especially in women’s water polo, which has won seven titles and is now favored to win again for the first time since a run of five-straight titles from 2005 – 2009.

<Cal beats UC Irvine 9-7 to Advance to Final Four Match-up w/#1 UCLA>

Bruins head coach Brandon Brooks, now in his eighth year in Westwood, believes that the striving for improvement will yield success.

“The goal is not to win a national championship,” he said after the Bruins won the MPSF Women’s Water Polo Tournament on April 29. “Winning a national championship is a result of the goal of playing our best water polo. And that never stops.”

Stanford (20-3), with two Olympians of its own, is the tournament’s second seed and will face University of the Pacific (21-8), the other play-in winner, at 3:30 p.m. Maggie Steffens—a 2017 Cutino Award finalist and perhaps the world’s most recognizable women’s water polo player by virtue of gold medals and MVP awards in consecutive Olympics (2012 and 2016)—teams with freshman Makenzie Fischer, another member of Team USA, to form a potent Cardinal attack.

<Stanford beats Pacific 13-6; Advances to Tomorrow’s Second Semifinal Against USC>

Stanford senior Dani Jackovich, from the Chicago area, is happy to be able to play in the Midwest, where friends and family will make the three-hour trek to Indianapolis.

“A lot of these California teams have never played there but it will feel just like home for me.” Jackovich said. “My family’s actually from Indiana so I might have a few fans there!”

Defending NCAA champions USC (28-3) come into the tournament on an uncharacteristic down streak. After winning 52-straight matches, including an undefeated season in 2016 on their way to a fifth NCAA title, and a 25 straight in 2017, the Trojans were beaten by Stanford in April, snapping the longest winning streak in NCAA women’s water polo history. USC has gone 3-2 since that loss, including defeats to UCLA and Stanford.

<USC knocks off Michigan 12-6; Will Play Stanford at 5 p.m. Saturday>

The Trojans will face Michigan (28-8), the Collegiate Water Polo Association champion, at 5:15 p.m. The Wolverines, led by senior Allison Skaggs’s 60 goals, are bolstered by freshman goalie Heidi Ritner. Michigan will be hard-pressed to top last year’s final four finish. The Trojans, led by the reigning Cutino Award winner Stephania Haralabidis (85 goals) as well as Brigitta Games (56 goals) dominant inside play present a devastating outside/inside combination.

The first round’s most interesting match-up is at 1:45 p.m. Fourth-seeded UC Irvine (21-6), winner of the Big Sky Conference, and California (15-9), the fourth Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) team to qualify for NCAAs. The Anteaters are riding a 14-match win streak but have only one win against a top-10 opponent—Michigan—and lost all five matches against MPSF opponents by a cumulative score of 64-21.

The Golden Bears, led by Hungarian Olympians Dora Antal and Anna Illes, are playing their best polo of the year, as evidenced by their performance at the MPSF tournament. They beat Arizona State and led both UCLA and USC in the fourth period before losing. Even though UC Irvine is the higher seed, it’s likely that Cal will join UCLA, Stanford and USC to make for an all-MPSF semifinal round on Saturday.

Stay tuned to Swimming World for more coverage of the 2017 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Tournament.

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