The NCAA women's water polo championship is the annual tournament hosted by the NCAA to determine the team national champion of women's collegiate water polo among its members in the United States, held each year since 2001.
Unlike most NCAA sports, only one National Collegiate championship is held each season with teams from Division I and Division II. Division III received their own in 2022.
Stanford has been the most successful program, with 10 championships; UCLA has the second most (8), followed by USC (6). One of these three California schools has won the championship every year since the tournament began 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 who lost to USC in 2004 and California (the other California-based Pac-12 school) who lost to Stanford in 2011.
Seven conferences have teams competing in women's water polo: the Big West Conference, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), the single-sport Golden Coast Conference, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). Some teams compete at Division III, either as members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or as an independent. Teams qualify by either winning their respective conference tournament or receiving one of the few at large bids available.
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:
The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was held on May 8âÂÂ13, 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:
Opening Round (May 8): Wagner def. UC-San Diego 10âÂÂ7, UC Irvine def. Pomona-Pitzer 16âÂÂ2
First Round (May 11): No. 1 USC def. Wagner 12âÂÂ5; No. 4 UCLA def. Pacific 8âÂÂ4; No. 2 Stanford def. UC Irvine 14âÂÂ8; No. 3 California def. Michigan 13âÂÂ6
Semi-finals (May 12): No. 1 USC def. No. 4 UCLA 10âÂÂ6; No. 2 Stanford def. No. 3 California 11âÂÂ7
Championship (May 13): No. 1 USC def. No. 2 Stanford 5-4
The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was held on May 12âÂÂ14, 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:
Opening Round (May 6): Wagner def. UC-San Diego 6âÂÂ5, Pacific def. Pomona-Pitzer 11âÂÂ5
First Round (May 12): No. 1 UCLA def. Wagner 17âÂÂ2; California def. No. 4 UC Irvine 9âÂÂ7; No. 2 Stanford def. Pacific 13âÂÂ6; No. 3 USC def. Michigan 12âÂÂ6
Semi-finals (May 13): No. 1 UCLA def. Cal 14âÂÂ11; No. 2 Stanford def. No. 3 USC 11âÂÂ10
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.
The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was held on May 13âÂÂ15, 2016 with UCLA, Los Angeles 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 at the University of California, San Diego): San Diego State def. Wagner 7âÂÂ4, UC San Diego def. Whitter 11âÂÂ7
Tournament First Round games (May 13, 2016): UCLA def. UC San Diego 17âÂÂ4, Stanford def. UC Santa Barbara 12âÂÂ5, Southern California def. San Diego State 12âÂÂ3, Michigan def. Arizona State 5-4
Semi-finals (May 14, 2016): Southern California def. Michigan 9âÂÂ6, Stanford def. UCLA 7-4
Championship (May 15, 2016): Southern California def. Stanford 8âÂÂ7
The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was held on May 8âÂÂ10, 2015 with Stanford, Stanford, CA 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) 17âÂÂ11, Princeton (29-3) def. Wagner (25-8) 12âÂÂ2.
Tournament First Round games (May 8, 2015): UCLA (24-2) def. UC San Diego 9âÂÂ2, California (19-7) def. UCI (19-8) 6âÂÂ5, Southern Cal (22-5) def. Hawaii (18-9) 14âÂÂ7, Stanford (23-2) def. Princeton (30-4) 7âÂÂ2.
Semi-finals (May 9, 2015): UCLA def. California 9âÂÂ5, Stanford def. Southern Cal 9âÂÂ8
Championship (May 10, 2015): Stanford def. UCLA, 7âÂÂ6
The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was held on May 9âÂÂ11, 2014 with USC, Los Angeles 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 11âÂÂ6, and No. 7 seed UC San Diego defeating No. 10 seed Pomona Pitzer 13âÂÂ9.
Tournament First Round games (May 9, 2014): No. 1 seed Stanford def. No. 8 seed Indiana 18âÂÂ2, No. 2 seed UCLA def. No. 7 seed UC San Diego 12âÂÂ8, No. 3 seed USC def. No. 6 seed UCI 14âÂÂ11, No. 4 seed Cal def. No. 5 seed ASU 7âÂÂ4
Semi-finals (May 10, 2014): [1] Stanford def. [4] California 12âÂÂ8, [2] UCLA def. [3] USC 5âÂÂ3
Championship (May 11, 2014): [1] Stanford def. [2] UCLA 9âÂÂ5
Annika Dries of Stanford was named the tournament's most outstanding player.
The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was held on May 10âÂÂ12, 2013 with Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 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) 20âÂÂ3; No. 3 seed UCLA (26-6) def. No. 6 seed Princeton (26-5) 8âÂÂ6; No. 1 seed Southern California (24-1) def. Pomona-Pitzer (18-16) 27âÂÂ1; No. 4 seed Hawaii (21-9) def. No. 5 seed UC San Diego (25-13) 13âÂÂ6
Semi-finals (May 11, 2013): No. 2 seed Stanford def. No. 3 seed UCLA 5âÂÂ3; No. 1 seed Southern California def. No. 4 seed Hawaii 16âÂÂ9
Championship (May 12, 2013): No. 1 seed Southern California def. No. 2 seed Stanford, 10-9<sup>5OT</sup>
The tournament was held at the SDSU's Aztec Aquaplex in San Diego, California with automatic bids for the MPSF, CWPA, Big West, MAAC, WWPA and SCIAC conferences. The three-day championships on May 11âÂÂ13, 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) 17âÂÂ5; No. 2 UCLA (21-3) def. No. 7 Iona (24-11) 14âÂÂ3; No. 3 Southern California (21-5) def. No. 6 Princeton (28-4) 14âÂÂ2; No. 4 UC Irvine (24-6) def. No. 5 Loyola Marymount (20-9) 8âÂÂ6.
Semi-finals (May 12, 2012: No. 1 Stanford def. No. 4 UC Irvine 12âÂÂ3; No. 3 Southern California def. No. 2 UCLA 12âÂÂ10.
Championship (May 13, 2012): No. 1 Stanford def. No. 3 Southern California 6âÂÂ4.
The tournament was held at the University of Michigan's Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan 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 13âÂÂ15, 2011, also had two at-large teams.
Tournament First Round games: No. 1 Stanford (25-1) def. No. 8 Iona College/University of Redlands (play-in winner) 22âÂÂ7; No. 4 USC (18-6) def. No. 5 UCI (21-8) 14âÂÂ9; No. 3 UCLA (24-6) def. No. 6 Indiana (21-8) 8âÂÂ5; No. 2 California (24-4) def. No. 7 UC San Diego (17-18) 13âÂÂ5.
Semi-finals: No. 2 California def. No. 3 UCLA 7âÂÂ4; No. 1 Stanford def. No. 4 Southern California 8âÂÂ4.
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
The tournament field was announced on Monday, May 3, 2010, with the championship tournament on May 14âÂÂ16 at San Diego State University'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) 23âÂÂ3; #2 USC (22-3) def. #7 Marist (18-14) 20âÂÂ5; #6 Loyola Marymount (27-4) def. #3 UCLA (20-7) 5âÂÂ4; #4 Cal (24-8) def. #5 Michigan (32-6) 12âÂÂ8.
Semi-finals: #1 Stanford def. #4 Cal 6âÂÂ3; #2 USC def. #6 Loyola Marymount 10âÂÂ6.
Southern California defeated Stanford in the title game 10-9 for its second national title in school history.
The following conferences and institutions received automatic qualification for the 2009 championships, which were played on May 8âÂÂ10: Collegiate Water Polo Association, Michigan; Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Marist; Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, USC; Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Cal Lutheran; and Western Water Polo Association, Loyola Marymount. The following institutions received at-large bids to the championship field: Stanford, UCLA, and Hawaii.
The first-round games: #1 seed USC (24-1) def. #8 Cal Lutheran (19-12) 22âÂÂ2; #2 Stanford (24-3) def. #7 Marist (18-13) 21âÂÂ5; #3 UCLA (22-6) def. #6 Michigan (33-8) 13âÂÂ6; and #4 Hawaii (18-8) def. # 5 Loyola Marymount (24-7) 11âÂÂ7.
Semi-finals: #1 USC def. #4 Hawaii 17âÂÂ5; #3 UCLA def. #2 Stanford 12âÂÂ11.
The UCLA Bruins women's team (3rd seeded) battled the #1 rated USC Trojans for the national championship on Sunday, May 10, 2009, at College Park, Maryland. 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 5âÂÂ4. Gandy earned the NCAA Tournament's most valuable player honor.