USC & UCLA Remain at No. 1 in May 12 Women's Varsity Top 20 Poll

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- Entering the 2010 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship, the University of California-Los Angeles and the University of Southern California will share the No. 1 ranking in the nation until the end of the weekend as the May 12 Women's Varsity Top 20 Poll was released today by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).

In other rankings, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and the University of Michigan   remain No. 1 in the Division III and CWPA Division I polls, while Carthage College finishes the season at No. 1 in the CWPA Division III Poll.

Voted on by a panel of coaches and administrators from around the country during the preseason and each week of the season based on the cumulative results of each team, the polls are released each Wednesday during the season until the Wednesday following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.

Women's Varsity Top 20 Poll

The Univeristy of California-Los Angeles and the University of Southern California will continue to share the No. 1 ranking in the country for at least another four days as the teams remain the top programs in the May 12 Women's Varsity Top 20 Poll.

The ranking marks the 10th time the Trojans have held the No. 1 ranking this year, while it marks the second time that defending national champion UCLA is rated as the best team in the nation.  Last week, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) champion Bruins moved into a tie with MPSF runner-up USC at No. 1 in the poll.

The dual No. 1 rankings marks a historical milestone in collegiate sports as the Bruins and Trojans, who both received bids to the 2010 Women's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship at San Diego State University this weekend, were also tied at No. 1 entering the 2009 Men's NCAA Championship.  At the men's championship hosted by Princeton University, USC defeated MPSF champion UCLA 7-6 to win the men's national championship.

It marks the first time in the history of a sport in which an NCAA Championship is contested for both men and women (soccer, lacrosse, tennis, golf, swimming, etc.) that the same two teams will enter the championship tied at No. 1 in the same academic year.

Behind USC and UCLA, the remainder of the poll also remains unchanged as no team moved up or down.

Women's Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll

Pomona-Pitzer Colleges remains at the top spot in the Division III National Top 10 Poll as the Sagehens garnered 100 points to return as a unanimous No. 1 pick.

The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) champion Sagehens are followed by Division III National tournament champion California Lutheran University, tournament runner-up Occidental College Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and the University of Redlands as the Top Five teams in the nation are from California for another week.

Overall, Cal Lutheran moved past Occidental to take over the No. 2 ranking this week, while Redlands moved into a tie with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at No. 4.

Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III champion Grove City College falls back to No. 7 this week on the heels of back-to-back at the hands of new No. 6 Carthage College at the Division III Championship, while Whittier College slips to No. 8 with Wheaton College and Chapman University rounding out the Top 10.

Women's Collegiate Water Polo Association Division I Poll

Five-time Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern champion the University of Michigan (2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 200) received 100 points to rank as a unanimous selection as the No. 1 team in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Division I Coaches' Poll.

Michigan, which was tied with Hartwick College in the CWPA Preseason Poll with 98 points, took over sole possession of the position in the January 27 poll and rolled to the program's third consecutive and fifth overall Eastern title to earn a bid to the 2010 NCAA Championship at San Diego State University this weekend.

The rankings reflect the final results of the 2010 Eastern Championship as Indiana University, Princeton University, Hartwick College, Bucknell University, Brown University, University of Maryland, Harvard University, George Washington University and Mercyhurst College rank No. 2-10, respectively.

Women's Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Top 5 Poll

Carthage College, which finished fourth at the National Collegiate III Championship over the weekend at Macalester College, takes over the No. 1 ranking in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Top 5 this week.

The ranking snaps a nine-week run by CWPA Division III champion Grove City College as the No. 1 team in the league as Carthage knocked off the Wolverines 11-9 and 8-7 over the weekend.

The remainder of the poll remains constant from the May 5 poll as Wheaton College (Ill.), Washington & Jefferson College and Connecticut College rate at No. 2-5.