The

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

Women's

Water Polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...

Championship has existed since the 2001 season. Seven conferences have teams competing in women's water polo: the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacifi ...

, the

Collegiate Water Polo Association The Collegiate Water Polo Association is a conference of colleges and universities in the Eastern United States that sponsor 19 men's teams and 17 women's teams that compete in varsity water polo. The winners of the conference tournaments earn one ...

(CWPA), the single-sport

Golden Coast Conference The Golden Coast Conference (GCC) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States in which its members compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association National Collegiate (D-NC) division. The conference sponsors one sport, water ...

, the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and ...

(MAAC), the

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the western United States, although it now has members as far east as Pennsylvania. The conference participates at the NCAA Division I ...

(MPSF), the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and the

Western Water Polo Association The Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) is a single sport intercollegiate college athletic conference sponsoring men's and women's water polo. The WWPA is affiliated with the NCAA, and includes 15 member institutions, mostly in California, w ...

(WWPA). Some teams compete at Division III either as members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or independently. Teams qualify by either winning their respective conference tournament or receiving one of the few at large bids available. Unlike most NCAA sports, only one

National Collegiate The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges a ...

championship is held each season with teams from Division I, Division II, and Division III competing together.

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

is the most successful program with 8 championships;

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

has seven; with

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

having six. One of these three

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

-based

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Divisi ...

schools has won the championship every year since women's water polo became an NCAA sport in 2001. While the tournament often includes teams from around the country, most programs are located within the state of California, and no school from outside California has ever surpassed third place or participated in the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship game. Indeed, only twice has a school other than Stanford, UCLA, or USC participated in the championship game:

Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

who lost to USC in 2004 and

(the other California-based Pac-12 school) who lost to Stanford in 2011.

Champions

UCLA defeats USC, claims NCAA women's water polo title
, ''Los Angeles Daily News'', May 10, 2009

Team titles

Result by school and year

28 teams have appeared in the NCAA Tournament in at least one year starting with 2001 (the initial year that the post-season tournament was under the auspices of the NCAA). The results for all years are shown in this table below. The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament: * Opening/Play-in Round (since 2014) * Quarterfinals (since 2005) * Semifinals * National Runner-up * National Champion

Tournaments

2022

2021

2019

2018

The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was held on May 8–13, 2018 at the USC Uytengsu Aquatics Center, Los Angeles, California. Ten teams were selected to participate in the annual event. Conference champions from the Big West, CWPA, Golden Coast Conference, MAAC, MPSF, SCIAC and WWPA are represented with the seven automatic bids. They were joined by three at-large teams, with play-in games ahead of the tournament. Conference Champions: *Big West - UC-Irvine *CWPA - Michigan *Golden Coast - Pacific *MAAC - Wagner *MPSF - USC *SCIAC -

Pomona-Pitzer Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens is the joint athletics program for Pomona College and Pitzer College, two of the Claremont Colleges. It competes in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) of the NCAA Division III. Its masco ...

*WWPA - UC-San Diego *at-large teams - Stanford, UCLA, California ''Opening Round (May 8):'' Wagner def. UC-San Diego 10–7, UC Irvine def. Pomona-Pitzer 16–2 ''First Round (May 11):'' No. 1 USC def. Wagner 12–5; No. 4 UCLA def. Pacific 8–4; No. 2 Stanford def. UC Irvine 14–8; No. 3 California def. Michigan 13–6 ''Semi-finals (May 12):'' No. 1 USC def. No. 4 UCLA 10–6; No. 2 Stanford def. No. 3 California 11–7 ''Championship (May 13):'' No. 1 USC def. No. 2 Stanford 5-4

2017

The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was held on May 12–14, 2017 at the IU Natatorium; Indianapolis, IN. Ten teams were selected to participate in the annual event. Conference champions from the Big West, CWPA, Golden Coast Conference, MAAC, MPSF, SCIAC and WWPA are represented with the seven automatic bids. They are joined by three at-large teams, with play-in games ahead of the tournament. Conference Champions: *Big West - UC-Irvine *CWPA - Michigan *Golden Coast - Pacific *MAAC - Wagner *MPSF - UCLA *SCIAC - Pomona-Pitzer *WWPA - UC-San Diego ''Opening Round (May 6):'' Wagner def. UC-San Diego 6–5, Pacific def. Pomona-Pitzer 11–5 ''First Round (May 12):'' No. 1 UCLA def. Wagner 17–2; California def. No. 4 UC Irvine 9–7; No. 2 Stanford def. Pacific 13–6; No. 3 USC def. Michigan 12–6 ''Semi-finals (May 13):'' No. 1 UCLA def. Cal 14–11; No. 2 Stanford def. No. 3 USC 11–10 ''Championship (May 14, 3:00 PM ET):'' No. 2 Stanford def. No. 1 UCLA 8-7 Maggie Steffens of Stanford, who scored the winning goal against UCLA with 9 seconds left, was named the tournament's most valuable player.Women's water polo: Stanford wins sixth national title, defeating UCLA 8-7
May 14, 2017

2016

The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was held on May 13–15, 2016 with

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

hosting. Eight teams were selected to participate in the annual event. Conference champions from the Big West, CWPA, Golden Coast Conference, MAAC, MPSF, SCIAC and WWPA were represented with the seven automatic bids. They were joined by three at-large teams, with play-in games conducted on May 10, 2016. ''Play-in games (May 10, 2016,

Canyonview Aquatic Center Canyonview Aquatic Center is the main aquatic center at the University of California San Diego, comprising two Olympic-size swimming pools, bleacher seating, and associated fitness facilities. It is located on the Warren College campus and serves ...

at the University of California, San Diego):'' San Diego State def. Wagner 7–4, UC San Diego def. Whitter 11–7 ''Tournament First Round games (May 13, 2016):'' UCLA def. UC San Diego 17–4, Stanford def. UC Santa Barbara 12–5, Southern California def. San Diego State 12–3, Michigan def. Arizona State 5-4 ''Semi-finals (May 14, 2016):'' Southern California def. Michigan 9–6, Stanford def. UCLA 7-4 ''Championship (May 15, 2016):'' Southern California def. Stanford 8–7

2015

The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was held on May 8–10, 2015 with

Stanford, CA Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University. The population was 21,150 at the 2020 census. Stanford is an unincorporated area of ...

hosting. Eight teams participated in the event. As has been the case since 2011, conference champions from the MPSF, WWPA, SCIAC, CWPA, MAAC, and Big West represented the six automatic bids. They were joined by four at-large teams, with play-in games being conducted on May 2: UC San Diego (18-18) def. Whittier (21-14) 17–11, Princeton (29-3) def. Wagner (25-8) 12–2. ''Tournament First Round games (May 8, 2015):'' UCLA (24-2) def. UC San Diego 9–2, California (19-7) def. UCI (19-8) 6–5, Southern Cal (22-5) def. Hawaii (18-9) 14–7, Stanford (23-2) def. Princeton (30-4) 7–2. ''Semi-finals (May 9, 2015):'' UCLA def. California 9–5, Stanford def. Southern Cal 9–8 ''Championship (May 10, 2015):'' Stanford def. UCLA, 7–6

2014

The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was held on May 9–11, 2014 with

hosting. Eight teams participated. Play-in games among four at-large teams were conducted May 3 on the campuses of the higher-seeded teams, with No. 8 seed Indiana defeating No. 9 seed Wagner 11–6, and No. 7 seed UC San Diego defeating No. 10 seed Pomona Pitzer 13–9. ''Tournament First Round games (May 9, 2014):'' No. 1 seed Stanford def. No. 8 seed Indiana 18–2, No. 2 seed UCLA def. No. 7 seed UC San Diego 12–8, No. 3 seed USC def. No. 6 seed UCI 14–11, No. 4 seed Cal def. No. 5 seed ASU 7–4 ''Semi-finals (May 10, 2014):'' Stanford def. California 12–8, UCLA def. USC 5–3 ''Championship (May 11, 2014):'' Stanford def. UCLA 9–5 Annika Dries of Stanford was named the tournament's most outstanding player.

2013

The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was held on May 10–12, 2013 with

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

Cambridge, MA Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

hosting. Eight teams participated. Conference champions from the MPSF, WWPA, SCIAC, CWPA, MAAC, and Big West were joined by two at-large teams. ''Tournament First Round games (May 10, 2013):'' No. 2 seed Stanford (27-2) def. No. 7 seed Iona (21-8) 20–3; No. 3 seed UCLA (26-6) def. No. 6 seed Princeton (26-5) 8–6; No. 1 seed Southern California (24-1) def. Pomona-Pitzer (18-16) 27–1; No. 4 seed Hawaii (21-9) def. No. 5 seed UC San Diego (25-13) 13–6 ''Semi-finals (May 11, 2013):'' No. 2 seed Stanford def. No. 3 seed UCLA 5–3; No. 1 seed Southern California def. No. 4 seed Hawaii 16–9 ''Championship (May 12, 2013):'' No. 1 seed Southern California def. No. 2 seed Stanford, 10-9^5OT

2012

The tournament was held at the SDSU's

Aztec Aquaplex The Aztec Aquaplex, located on the San Diego State University (SDSU) campus in San Diego, California, USA. The facility is operated and managed by thAssociated Students of San Diego State University which sells passes for access. Intercollegia ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

with automatic bids for the MPSF, CWPA, Big West, MAAC, WWPA and SCIAC conferences. The three-day championships on May 11–13, 2012, also had two at-large teams. ''Tournament First Round games (May 11, 2012):'' No. 1 Stanford (23-2) def. No. 8 Pomona-Pitzer (21-16) 17–5; No. 2

(21-3) def. No. 7 Iona (24-11) 14–3; No. 3 Southern California (21-5) def. No. 6 Princeton (28-4) 14–2; No. 4 UC Irvine (24-6) def. No. 5 Loyola Marymount (20-9) 8–6. ''Semi-finals (May 12, 2012:'' No. 1 Stanford def. No. 4 UC Irvine 12–3; No. 3 Southern California def. No. 2

12–10. ''Championship (May 13, 2012):'' No. 1 Stanford def. No. 3 Southern California 6–4.

2011

The tournament was held at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

's Canham Natatorium in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all ...

with automatic bids for the MPSF (Stanford), CWPA (Indiana), Big West (UCI), MAAC (Iona), WWPA (UC San Diego) and SCIAC (Redlands). The three-day championships on May 13–15, 2011, also had two at-large teams. ''Tournament First Round games:'' No. 1

(25-1) def. No. 8 Iona College/

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university headquartered in Redlands, California. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Califo ...

(play-in winner) 22–7; No. 4

(18-6) def. No. 5 UCI (21-8) 14–9; No. 3

(24-6) def. No. 6

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

(21-8) 8–5; No. 2

(24-4) def. No. 7

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

(17-18) 13–5. ''Semi-finals:'' No. 2 California def. No. 3 UCLA 7–4; No. 1 Stanford def. No. 4 Southern California 8–4. ''Championship:'' No. 1 Stanford defeated No. 2 California 9-5 for its second national title. All Tournament First Team: Amber Oland, Stanford; Annika Dries, Stanford; Emily Csikos, Cal; Kim Krueger, Stanford; Patricia Jancso, USC; Melissa Seidemann, Stanford; Dana Ochsner, Cal; Priscilla Orozco, UCLA All Tournament Second Team: Stephane Peckham, Cal; Jakie Kohli, Indiana; Joelle Bekhazi, USC; KK Clark, UCLA; Cortney Collyer, UC Irvine; Jessy Cardey, UC Irvine; Maggie Wood, Iona; Kelly Easterday, UCLA Tournament MVP: Annika Dries, Stanford

2010

The tournament field was announced on Monday, May 3, 2010, with the championship tournament on May 14–16 at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

's Aztec Aquaplex. Teams that received automatic bids were UCLA (MPSF), Michigan (CWPA), Marist (MAAC), Loyola Marymount (WWPA) and Pomona-Pitzer (SCIAC). Stanford, Cal and USC of MPSF received at-large bids. Tournament Bracket: #1 Stanford (24-2) def. #8 Pomona-Pitzer (18-14) 23–3; #2 USC (22-3) def. #7 Marist (18-14) 20–5; #6 Loyola Marymount (27-4) def. #3 UCLA (20-7) 5–4; #4 Cal (24-8) def. #5 Michigan (32-6) 12–8. Semi-finals: #1 Stanford def. #4 Cal 6–3; #2 USC def. #6 Loyola Marymount 10–6. Southern California defeated Stanford in the title game 10-9 for its second national title in school history.

2009

The following conferences and institutions received automatic qualification for the 2009 championships, which were played on May 8–10: Collegiate Water Polo Association,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

; Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Marist; Mountain Pacific Sports Federation,

; Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Cal Lutheran; and Western Water Polo Association,

. The following institutions received at-large bids to the championship field: Stanford,

, and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. The first-round games: #1 seed USC (24-1) def. #8 Cal Lutheran (19-12) 22–2; #2 Stanford (24-3) def. #7 Marist (18-13) 21–5; #3 UCLA (22-6) def. #6 Michigan (33-8) 13–6; and #4 Hawaii (18-8) def. # 5 Loyola Marymount (24-7) 11–7. Semi-finals: #1 USC def. #4 Hawaii 17–5; #3 UCLA def. #2 Stanford 12–11. The

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

women's team (3rd seeded) battled the #1 rated

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred ...

for the national championship on Sunday, May 10, 2009, at

College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States Census. It is best known ...

. With two goals from Tanya Gandy in the first minute of the game, UCLA won a record fifth consecutive crown, 11th national title and 7th NCAA crown, by a score of 5–4. Gandy earned the NCAA Tournament's most valuable player honor.

References

External links

Women's Water Polo Championship History - NCAA.com
{{Major women's sport leagues in North America Women's water polo competitions Women's sports competitions in the United States