BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The University of California-Los Angeles remains at No. 1 in the nation, while Whittier College retakes the No. 1 position in the Division III rankings, as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2015 Men’s Varsity Week 4/September 30 National Top 20, Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 Polls.
The undisputed top team in the land through the first four weeks of competition during the 2015 Men’s Varsity season, the Bruins are once again a unanimous top selection. For Whittier, which slipped to No. 2 last week behind Johns Hopkins University, the Blue Jays to quote another Poet are the No. 1 team in Division III “nevermore” as the Poets inch in front of the Baltimore based birds to reclaim sole possession of the top position among small colleges.
In the CWPA Top 10 league poll, the Tigers of Princeton University received fewer first place votes but expanded its lead over runner-up Bucknell University from three points to five following limited action outside the Northern Division last week.
Voted on by a panel of coaches from the CWPA, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), MPSF, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the polls will be compiled and released on Wednesday during each week of the season through the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.
2015 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 (Week 4/September 30)
The 2014 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champion Bruins of the University of California-Los Angeles retain the No. 1 position in the 2015 Week 4/September 30 National Top 20 Poll .
Similar to the Week 1 and 3 Polls, the Bruins (100 points) are once again a consensus top pick after tallying 99 points in the Week 2 balloting.
The week of competition had virtually no impact on the Top 12 positions in the rankings as Stanford University (95 points), the University of Southern California (90 points), the University of California (85 points), theUniversity of the Pacific (81 points), the University of California-Santa Barbara (75 points), Long Beach State University (70 points), the University of California-Irvine (65 points), Pepperdine University (61 points), the University of California-Davis (55 points), Princeton University (48 points) and Brown University(47 points) hold their ground and their positions from the Week 3 voting.
The first team to make a move comes at No. 13 as the United States Air Force Academy (39 points) slides in front of the University of California-San Diego (28 points) on the strength of wins against the United States Naval Academy, California Lutheran University and Whittier College over the weekend.
Bucknell University (26 points) holds at No. 15, while the Poets of Whittier (16 points) steam up four places to take over at No. 16.
Johns Hopkins University (15 points) maintains its previous berth at No. 17 with the remainder of the Top 20 filled by new faces as Santa Clara University (14 points), Loyola Marymount University (13 points) and St. Francis College Brooklyn (12 points) move up from unranked and receiving votes to No. 18-to-20, respectively.
Outside the Top 20, four schools received one or more votes as a total of 24 institutions garnered notice.
2015 Varsity Top 20 (Week 4/September 30) |
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| Rank | Team | Week 3 Poll | Points |
| 1 | University of California-Los Angeles | 1 | 100 |
| 2 | Stanford University | 2 | 95 |
| 3 | University of Southern California | 3 | 90 |
| 4 | University of California | 4 | 85 |
| 5 | University of the Pacific | 5 | 81 |
| 6 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 6 | 75 |
| 7 | Long Beach State University | 7 | 70 |
| 8 | University of California-Irvine | 8 | 65 |
| 9 | Pepperdine University | 9 | 61 |
| 10 | University of California-Davis | 10 | 55 |
| 11 | Princeton University | 11 | 48 |
| 12 | Brown University | 12 | 47 |
| 13 | United States Air Force Academy | 14 | 39 |
| 14 | University of California-San Diego | 13 | 28 |
| 15 | Bucknell University | 15 | 26 |
| 16 | Whittier College | 20 | 16 |
| 17 | Johns Hopkins University | 17 | 15 |
| 18 | Santa Clara University | NR | 14 |
| 19 | Loyola Marymount University | RV | 13 |
| 20 | St. Francis College Brooklyn | RV | 12 |
| RV | Harvard University | 18 | 7 |
| RV | United States Naval Academy | 16 | 6 |
| RV | San Jose State University | 19 | 5 |
| RV | California Baptist University | RV | 1 |
2015 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 4/September 30)
The battle for supremacy in Division III wages on for another week with a possible conclusion as Whittier College (98 points) reacquires sole possession of the No. 1 position to top the Week 4/September 30 National Division III Top 10 Poll.
The reigning Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) champion Poets, who led the Preseason voting, fell behind Johns Hopkins University in the Week 1 balloting, rallied back to tie for the top spot in Week 2 and slipped behind their East Coast nemesis in the Week 3 selections, continue the back-and-forth game by edging out JHU 98-to-97 for sole possession of top billing once again.
For fans of the game, the question of which team is better could be answered this weekend in the Golden State of California as the East Coast-vs.-West Coast war could be settled if both programs advance to the title game of the Gary Troyer Tournament on October 2-3 in Claremont, Calif.
The change at the top is among a few in this week’s Division III balloting.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (88 points) and the University of Redlands (85 points) remain at No. 3 and 4 for another week, respectively, while Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (77 points), which was tied with Redlands at No. 5 two weeks ago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology seven days back, finally assume sole command of the spot.
Chapman University (70 points), California Lutheran University (68 points) and the University of La Verne(64 points) stay at No. 6-to-8, with MIT (60 points) dropping back to No. 9.
Washington & Jefferson College (33 points) rounds out the Top 10.
Occidental College (22 points) and Connecticut College (13 points) also received votes.
2015 Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 4/September 30) |
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| Rank | Team | Week 3 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Whittier College | 2 | 98 |
| 2 | Johns Hopkins University | 1 | 97 |
| 3 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges | 3 | 88 |
| 4 | University of Redlands | 4 | 85 |
| 5 | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | 5 (T) | 77 |
| 6 | Chapman University | 7 | 70 |
| 7 | California Lutheran University | 8 | 68 |
| 8 | University of La Verne | 9 | 64 |
| 9 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 5 (T) | 60 |
| 10 | Washington & Jefferson College | 10 | 33 |
| RV | Occidental College | RV | 22 |
| RV | Connecticut College | RV | 13 |
2015 Men’s Varsity CWPA Top 10 (Week 4/September 30)
The Tigers of Princeton University maintain their position as the top team in the Week 4/September 30 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 Poll.
Princeton (97 points) now holds a five point lead over Bucknell University (92 points) but received fewer first place votes than in the Week 3 voting. Reigning CWPA Champion Brown University (91 points) remains at No. 3 as the Bears stay within striking distance of the Tigers and Bison.
Johns Hopkins University (86 points) takes over sole control of the No. 4 slot after tying with the United States Naval Academy last week. A resurgent St. Francis College Brooklyn (82 points) jumps up to No. 5 with Harvard University (74 points) remaining at No. 6 for another week.
Navy (71 points) sinks to No. 7 and Fordham University (65 points) hangs on at No. 8.
George Washington University (59 points) cracks the Top 10 at No. 9 with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (46 points) completing the league’s rankings at No. 10.
Mercyhurst University (12 points) also received votes.
2015 Varsity CWPA Top 10 (Week 4/September 30) |
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| Rank | Team | Week 3 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Princeton University | 1 | 97 |
| 2 | Bucknell University | 2 | 92 |
| 3 | Brown University | 3 | 91 |
| 4 | Johns Hopkins University | 4 (T) | 86 |
| 5 | St. Francis College Brooklyn | 8 (T) | 82 |
| 6 | Harvard University | 6 | 74 |
| 7 | United States Naval Academy | 4 (T) | 71 |
| 8 | Fordham University | 8 (T) | 65 |
| 9 | George Washington University | RV | 59 |
| 10 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 7 | 46 |
| RV | Mercyhurst University | 10 | 12 |
Swimming news courtesy of Collegiate Water Polo Association.