Rankings held steady across the board as there were no upsets among the CWPA Top 25 on Week 12 of women’s water polo action, but the CWPA Division III title was awarded as were a handful of other conference crowns.
The big matches of the week saw #1 Stanford edge out #4 Cal 13-12, #2 USC pummel #10 Arizona State 17-3 and #5 Hawaii best #11 UC Santa Barbara 15-9.
With the victory, Stanford locked down the top seed in the MPSF Championships, April 26-28.
Hawaii grabbed a share of the Big West title with its victory.
#6 Michigan registered two Top 25 wins, downing #18 Harvard 17-2 and #18 Bucknell 16-6 in CWPA league games in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The victories helped the Wolverines clinch the top seed in the CWPA Championship set for April 26-28, finishing undefeated in league play at 6-0.
#6 UC Irvine (def. #15 UC San Diego 11-8) and #8 Pacific (def. #16 San Diego State 12-7) also recorded key victories. The Tigers sewed up their second straight Golden Coast Conference title, remaining unbeaten in league play at 6-0 and earning the top seed in the GCC Championships, April 26-28.
#18 Wagner secured the top seed in the MAAC Championship after notching its fourth-straight regular season crown.
CWPA Division III Championships
The CWPA Division III title was decided over 17 matches in New London, Connecticut. In the end, Macalester edged out Austin College 8-5 for the title on Sunday, sewing up its third consecutive championship.
Monmouth finished third with a 12-7 win over Carthage. Grove City bested Wittenberg 11-9 for fifth place, while Connecticut College nailed down seventh place with a 13-9 victory over Penn State Behrend.
The tournament was not without drama as Washington & Jefferson coach Nikola Malezanov received a red card in the fourth quarter of the team’s Saturday contest with Penn State Behrend, forcing the team to forfeit as the Presidents did not have another institutional representative or assistant coach to take over in his stead.
The CWPA cited the NCAA rules in ended that contest and also forced the team to forfeit its next contest due to Malezanov’s suspension due to the red card.
“Per National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Rule 3/Officials – Referees- Control Over Conduct (Article 3, Subsection 3 Red Cards) – “There must be a representative of the institution available to oversee the team when the head coach has received a red card and is excluded from the remainder of the game. Eligible institutional representatives may be declared along with the roster of players before the game, either on the program, if available, or on the scoresheet. If an institutional representative was not declared before the game, a reasonable amount of time (two minutes) will be allowed for an institutional representative to become available on the deck to assume coaching responsibilities. Interpretation: The head coach, assistant coach, athletic trainer, strength coach, director of athletics and faculty athletics representative. If the sole institutional representative for a team is the head coach and that coach receives a red card, the game will be declared a forfeit by the referee. The institutional representative may not be an undergraduate student nor an adult without official institutional responsibilities.
“Further, the person receiving the red card is automatically suspended from the next traditional season game, preventing Malezanov from coaching W&J’s next contest.”
Overtime Affairs
- LaSalle def. Villanova 15-13 – The Explorers recorded their first first hoe win in program history behind five goals by Sarah DeFusco. LaSalle snapped the 12-all tie with three straight scores – two by Jillian Delisle and one by Madison Martinez. Amanda Rice answered with one for the Wildcats, but it was not enough.
- Fresno Pacific def. Cal State Monterey Bay 15-14 SD – Cal State Monterey Bay scored seven goals to two for Fresno Pacific in the fourth period to force overtime tied at 14. After two scoreless overtime periods, FPU finally broke through with a goal by Sam Witt to clinch the 15-14 win in sudden death. Witt put in six goals, while Amy Zaninovich added four for the Sunbirds in the victory.
| Date | Result | Winner Recap | Loser Recap |
| April 8. | |||
| 10 p.m. | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps def. Chapman 9-8 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Recap | Chapman Recap |
| April 9. | |||
| 6:30 p.m. | RV Brown def. Connecticut College 14-8 | Brown Recap | Connecticut College Recap |
| April 10. | |||
| 7 p.m. | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps def. Whittier 10-9 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Recap | Whittier Recap |
| 7 p.m. | LaVerne def. Cal Tech 12-6 | LaVerne Recap | Cal Tech Recap |
| 7 p.m. | Pomona-Pitzer def. Cal Lutheran 7-5 | Pomona-Pitzer Recap | Cal Lutheran Recap |
| 10 p.m. | Redlands def. Occidental 8-3 | Redlands Recap | Occidental Recap |
| April 11. | |||
| 7 p.m. | #25 Cal Baptist def. Concordia (CA) 10-4 | Cal Baptist Recap | Concordia Recap |
| April 12. | |||
| 4 p.m. | #23 Cal State Northridge def. Cal State East Bay 11-7 | Cal State Northridge Recap | Cal State East Bay Recap |
| 6:30 p.m. | #24 Azusa Pacific def. Santa Clara 9-5 | Azusa Pacific Recap | Santa Clara Recap |
| 7 p.m. | #8 Pacific def. #16 San Diego State 12-7 | Pacific Recap | San Diego State Recap |
| 9 p.m. | #6 UC Irvine def. #14 UC San Diego 11-8 | UC Irvine Recap | UC San Diego Recap |
| CWPA Division III Championship | |||
| Wittenberg def. Washington & Jefferson 14-5 | Wittenberg Recap | Washington & Jefferson Recap | |
| Carthage def. Utica 9-3 | Carthage Recap | Utica Recap | |
| Austin College def. Penn State Behrend 19-7 | Austin College Recap | Penn State Behrend Recap | |
| Monmouth def. Connecticut College 25-10 | Monmouth Recap | Connecticut College Recap | |
| Macalester def. Wittenberg 17-6 | Macalester Recap | Wittenberg Recap | |
| Carthage def. Grove City 9-6 | Carthage Recap | Grove City Recap | |
| April 13. | |||
| 9 a.m. | LaSalle def. Villanova 15-13 OT | LaSalle Recap | Villanova Recap |
| 10:30 a.m. | #22 Marist def. Siena 12-6 | Marist Recap | Siena Recap |
| Noon | Iona def. VMI 11-10 | Iona Recap | VMI Recap |
| Noon | Gannon def. Mercyhurst 11-10 | Gannon Recap | Mercyhurst Recap |
| 1:30 p.m. | #18 Wagner def. LaSalle 27-6 | Wagner Recap | LaSalle Recap |
| 2 p.m. | Cal Lutheran def. Chapman 18-9 | Cal Lutheran Recap | Chapman Recap |
| 2 p.m. | Pomona-Pitzer def. Cal Tech 17-1 | Pomona-Pitzer Recap | Cal Tech Recap |
| 2 p.m. | Whittier def. Occidental 15-5 | Whittier Recap | Occidental Recap |
| 2 p.m. | LaVerne def. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 9-8 | LaVerne Recap | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Recap |
| 3 p.m. | #1 Stanford def. #4 Cal 13-12 | Stanford Recap | Cal Recap |
| 3 p.m. | #9 UC Davis def. #23 Cal State Northridge 11-8 | UC Davis Recap | Cal State Northridge Recap |
| 3 p.m. | #13 Loyola Marymount def. #25 Cal Baptist 9-5 | Loyola Marymount Recap | Cal Baptist Recap |
| 3 p.m. | #21 San Jose State def. RV Indiana 8-6 | San Jose State Recap | Indiana Recap |
| 3 p.m. | #22 Marist def. St. Francis Brooklyn 16-8 | Marist Recap | St. Francis Brooklyn Recap |
| 4 p.m. | #2 USC def. #10 Arizona State 17-3 | USC Recap | Arizona State Recap |
| 4 p.m. | Fresno Pacific def. Cal State Monterey Bay 15-14 3OT | Fresno Pacific Recap | Cal State Monterey Bay Recap |
| 4 p.m. | Cal State East Bay def. Sonoma State 7-5 | Cal State East Bay Recap | Sonoma State Recap |
| 4:30 p.m. | Villanova def. VMI 12-7 | Villanova Recap | VMI Recap |
| 5:30 p.m. | #8 Pacific def. Concordia (CA) 20-3 | Pacific Recap | Concordia Recap |
| 6 p.m. | #18 Wagner def. Siena 23-8 | Wagner Recap | Siena Recap |
| 7:30 p.m. | Iona def. St. Francis Brooklyn 6-5 | Iona Recap | St. Francis Brooklyn Recap |
| 9 p.m. | #14 UC San Diego def. Pomona-Pitzer 12-4 | UC San Diego Recap | Pomona-Pitzer Recap |
| Midnight | #5 Hawaii def. #11 UC Santa Barbara 15-9 | Hawaii Recap | UC Santa Barbara Recap |
| CWPA Division III Championships (New London, Connecticut) | |||
| Penn State Behrend def. Washington & Jefferson 5-0 via forfeit | Penn State Behrend Recap | Washington & Jefferson Recap | |
| Connecticut College def. Utica 12-4 | Connecticut College Recap | Utica Recap | |
| Macalester def. Monmouth 13-11 | Macalester Recap | Monmouth Recap | |
| Austin College def. Carthage 7-2 | Austin College Recap | Carthage Recap | |
| Grove City def. Penn State Behrend 12-10 | Grove City Recap | Penn State Behrend Recap | |
| Wittenberg def. Connecticut College 15-12 | Wittenberg Recap | Connecticut College Recap | |
| 9th Place | Utica def. Washington & Jefferson 5-0 via forfeit | Utica Recap | Washington & Jefferson Recap |
| CWPA League Games – Lewisburg, Pennsylvania | |||
| 10 a.m. | #18 Bucknell def. Saint Francis (PA) 12-5 | Bucknell Recap | Saint Francis Recap |
| 11:30 a.m. | Brown def. George Washington 11-7 | Brown Recap | George Washington Recap |
| 1 p.m. | #6 Michigan def. #18 Harvard 17-2 | Michigan Recap | Harvard Recap |
| 3:30 p.m. | George Washington def. Saint Francis (PA) 10-9 | George Washington Recap | Saint Francis Recap |
| 5 p.m. | #15 Princeton def. Brown 8-4 | Princeton Recap | Brown Recap |
| 6:30 p.m. | #6 Michigan def. #18 Bucknell 16-6 | Michigan Recap | Bucknell Recap |
| April 14. | |||
| 9 a.m. | #18 Wagner def. Villanova 18-6 | Wagner Recap | Villanova Recap |
| 10:30 a.m. | Siena def. St. Francis Brooklyn 9-8 | Siena Recap | St. Francis Brooklyn Recap |
| Noon | #22 Marist def. Iona 13-5 | Marist Recap | Iona Recap |
| 1:30 p.m. | #18 Wagner def. VMI 21-3 | Wagner Recap | VMI Recap |
| 3 p.m. | LaSalle def. Siena 14-12 | LaSalle Recap | Siena Recap |
| 4:30 p.m. | #17 Fresno State def. Santa Clara 15-8 | Fresno State Recap | Santa Clara Recap |
| 4:30 p.m. | #22 Marist def. Villanova 26-8 | Marist Recap | Villanova Recap |
| 7 p.m. | #4 Cal def. RV Indiana 17-5 | Cal Recap | Indiana Recap |
| CWPA League Games – Lewisburg, Pennsylvania | |||
| 9 a.m. | Brown def. Saint Francis (PA) 12-3 | Brown Recap | Saint Francis Recap |
| 10:30 a.m. | #6 Michigan def. George Washington 14-5 | Michigan Recap | George Washington Recap |
| Noon | #15 Princeton def. #18 Bucknell 10-5 | Princeton Recap | Bucknell Recap |
| CWPA Division III Championships (New London, Connecticut) | |||
| 7th | Connecticut College def. Penn State Behrend 13-9 | Connecticut College Recap | Penn State Behrend Recap |
| 5th Place | Grove City def. Wittenberg 11-9 | Grove City Recap | Wittenberg Recap |
| 3rd Place | Monmouth def. Carthage 12-7 | Monmouth Recap | Carthage Recap |
| 1st Place | Macalester def. Austin College 8-5 | Macalester Recap | Austin College Recap |