April 20, 2009

Seedings and Schedule in PDF Format

Los Angeles, CA (April 20) - Loyola Marymount, who finished the regular season a perfect 10-0 against fellow Western Water Polo Association foes, has been tabbed the top seed for the upcoming 2009 WWPA Women's Water Polo Championship hosted by Santa Clara University at the brand new Sullivan Aquatic Center Friday, Apr. 24 - Sunday, Apr. 26. The Lions finished winning 15 of its last 18 games and enter the tournament 22-7 overall.

LMU will be looking for its seventh championship of the decade - winning titles in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007. Since the WWPA tournament began in 1999, the Lions have a record of 28-4.

Following LMU will be Cal State Bakersfield with the No. 2 seed. The Road Runners went 20-13 overall on the season, going 10-3 in the WWPA. Tournament host Santa Clara earns the No. 3 seed after also finishing 10-3 in the WWPA and 17-15 overall. Rounding out the top-five seeds are No. 4 UC San Diego and No. 5 Sonoma State. The top-five seeds earn byes into the quarterfinals of the tournament.

The rest of the 2009 seeding are No. 6 Colorado State, No. 7 UC Santa Cruz, No. 8 Cal State East Bay, No. 9 Cal State Monterey Bay, No. 10 Cal State San Bernardino and No. 11 Chapman.

The tournament will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Friday when Colorado State takes on Chapman. The Rams had one of their best seasons at 9-5 in the WWPA and 14-15 overall while Chapman was 9-19 and 0-6 in the WWPA. The winner will take on No. 3 Santa Clara in Game No. 5 at 5:20 p.m.

Due to the convocation ceremonies for Santa Clara's new president, the tournament will break the rest of the morning and will not resume until the afternoon with Game No. 2.

The second game of the day will feature UC Santa Cruz taking on No. 10 CS San Bernardino. UCSC finished the regular season at 13-16 overall and 3-6 against the WWPA. CSUSB finished the season with a big win over Sonoma State to move their record to 10-22 overall and 2-10 in the WWPA. They will play at 1:20 p.m. and the winner will take on CS Bakersfield in Game No. 6 at 6:40 p.m.

Game three will feature CS East Bay taking on CS Monterey Bay at 2:40 p.m. The Pioneers won 12 of their last 16 games and finished the season at 14-12 overall and 4-8 in the WWPA. CSUMB finished the season 2-10 in the WWPA and 8-25 overall. The winner will face host LMU in the final game of the day (game No. 7) at 8:00 p.m.

The final first round game will feature UC San Diego taking on Sonoma State in game No. 4 at 4:00 p.m. The Tritons played the toughest schedule in the conference with 20 games against top-20 opponents, finishing the season 10-19 overall and 4-4 against the WWPA. Sonoma State had some key wins on the season and received votes in the top-20 poll. They finished 11-17 overall and 8-7 in the WWPA. The winner will advance to the semifinals on Saturday.