Besides Hawaii\u2019s sizzling start, UC-Davis\u2019 incredibly difficult early season schedule and Loyola Marymount\u2019s leap from 19 to 11, this week\u2019s news is the upcoming Triton Invitational hosted by UC-San Diego. With five of the nation\u2019s top teams\u2014USC, UCLA, Hawaii, Fresno State and UC Irvine\u2014in action, this early season stress test will help clarify who\u2019s on top.<\/p>\n
1) USC (2-0; 0-0 MPSF); Casey Moon\u2014<\/strong>fully in charge again after a five-year gap\u2014has the Trojans off to their typical unbeaten start. Can they keep it up for a second-straight Triton title?<\/p>\n 2) Cal (4-0; 0-0 MPSF); Cal also played some tough foes last weekend\u2014UCLA and arch-rival Stanford\u2014also in exhibitions. They will be keeping score on The Farm when the Golden Bears and Cardinal face off next Saturday in Palo Alto.<\/p>\n 3) UCLA (4-0; 0-0 MPSF); Unlike the Trojans, the Bruins have faced difficult opponents\u2014#2 Cal and the U.S. women\u2019s team\u2014both in exhibition matches. No results are released but scheduling tough opponents early gives coach Adam Wright<\/strong> an idea of how his young team, with 11 freshmen and seven sophomores, will develop.<\/p>\n 4) Hawaii (5-0; 0-0 Big West); Water Polo Planet has chatter about a lack of depth on Head Coach Maureen Cole<\/strong>\u2019s squad. This may prove true but\u2014based on strength of schedule\u2014Hawaii has been the nation\u2019s best team, with wins over top-10 teams Stanford, Princeton and Fresno State (a 9-5 decision last weekend at the Rainbow Invitational).<\/p>\n 5) Fresno State (6-1; 0-0 GCC); The Bulldogs are right behind the Rainbow Wahine on strength of schedule but the divide between 4th and 5th is four-goals wide. Fresno State beat Stanford and Princeton but was a loser to Hawaii in Honolulu.<\/p>\n T-6) UC-Irvine (2-2; 0-0 Big West); Unlike Fresno State or Hawaii, the Anteaters could not take down Stanford and also lost to Cal on their opening weekend of play. They rebounded with wins over San Jose State and UC Davis. Next up; a major test at the Triton Invitational.<\/p>\n T-6) Stanford (2-2; 0-0 MPSF); The Cardinal only scrimmaged this weekend\u2014probably a good scenario after arguably the worst opening weekend of the John Tanner<\/strong> era. Stanford hosts five teams\u2014 including Cal\u2014this weekend.<\/p>\n 8) Princeton (1-2; 0-0 CWPA) What happens when you beat Cal for the first time and make your first-ever Final Four (last year)? You go to Honolulu\u2014 where the Tigers opened their 2024 season. Losses to host Hawaii and Fresno State were deflating\u2026 but you can\u2019t beat the weather!<\/p>\n 9) UC-San Diego (5-1; 0-0 Big West); A fast start\u2014including a one-goal loss to UCLA in their season\u2019s opening day\u2014points to good things for the Tritons. They\u2019re at home this weekend for their own Invitational; a great measuring stick for coach Brad Kreutzkamp<\/strong>\u2019s side.<\/p>\n 10) Michigan (4-3; 0-0 CWPA); an 0-3 opening weekend in California gave way to a 4-0 home sweep at the Wolverine Invitational the next. This weekend it\u2019s back out West for the Triton Invite.<\/p>\n 11) Loyola Marymount (6-1; 0-0 GCC); Great start for the Lions, especially a big win over LBS. This weekend in San Diego may show if LMU is capable of challenging Fresno State\u2019s stranglehold on the GCC title.<\/p>\n 12) UC-Santa Barbara (5-1; 0-0 Big West); A narrow 14-11 opening weekend loss to UCLA is the Gauchos only blemish. Coach Serela Kay<\/strong>\u2019s squad leapfrogs Big West rival LBS.<\/p>\n 13) Long Beach State (2-1; 0-0 Big West); Loss last weekend to Loyola Maryland pushed The Beach out of the top 10.<\/p>\n 14) Arizona State (4-0; 0-0 MPSF); Sun Devils outscored their opponents 74-24 in an opening season sweep at their own tournament. That result reflects more on the visitors\u2014only two ranked teams, from the wrong end of the poll. This weekend it\u2019s higher-ranked opponents in San Diego.<\/p>\n 15) Indiana (4-0; 0-0 MPSF); Once upon a time the Hoosiers and the Wolverines were the first wave of a proposed Big Ten women\u2019s water polo conference. Not only did that not happen\u2014the two schools are in separate water polo conferences\u2014the irony is that next fall UCLA and USC, core members of the Pac-12, are jumping to the Big Ten.<\/p>\n T-16) UC-Davis (0-6; 0-0 Big West); You have to give credit to coach Kandace Waldthaler<\/strong>; the first two weekends her Aggies faced the nation\u2019s top five teams as well as then-No. 9 Fresno State. Or maybe not; UCD lost those games by a cumulative score of 102-38. Looking for the season’s first win in San Diego.<\/p>\n Photo Courtesy: UC Davis Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n T-16) Pacific (0-0); open at the Stanford Invitational on February 3.<\/p>\n 18) Harvard (0-0); opens at the Bruno Classic on February 3.<\/p>\n 19) San Jose State (1-3; 0-0 MPSF); Tough one-goal loss to UCSB distinguishes the Spartan\u2019s season (so far). A weekend off until the ASU Invitational next weekend in Tempe.<\/p>\n 20) Wagner (2-2; 0-0 MAAC); Seahawks opened in Tempe with a predictable split; wins over Salem and Cal Lutheran; losses to host Arizona State and LMU. Wagner is now on break until the Bruno Classic next month at Brown.<\/p>\n NOTABLE:<\/p>\n San Diego State (2-1; 0-0 GCC); The Aztecs will participate in their hometown tournament. First up on Friday? #4 Hawaii.<\/p>\n Biola (2-2; 0-0 WWPA); The Eagles (T-23) again split their two matches the past weekend. They\u2019re off this weekend and go to Stanford next weekend. On the horizon: the Kalbus Invite at UC-Irvine; a huge test for Sarah Orozco<\/strong>\u2019s team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With two weeks of play in the books, the CWPA\u2019s Varsity Women\u2019s Water Polo poll has (mostly) taken shape. USC holds the top spot for the second consecutive week while<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":576761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[328,54416],"class_list":["post-576758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-usc","tag-water-polo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n![\"uc-davis-water-polo\"](\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/UC_Davis-700x500.jpg\")