CWPA Releases 2009 Men's Mid-Atlantic Club Division Schedule

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- The Collegiate Water Polo Association has released the 2009 club schedule for the 13-team men's Mid-Atlantic Division. One of the largest divisions in the CWPA, the Mid-Atlantic features an eight-team Eastern Division and a five-team Western Division which will meet on October 30-November 1 to decide the division's qualifier for the National Collegiate Club Championship tournament at the University of Florida on November 13-15.

Unlike many of the other divisions, the Mid-Atlantic schedule features multiple weeknight games as each division plays a round-robin format to seed the East No. 1-8 and the West No. 1-5.

Following the completion of regular season play on October 27, the 13 teams will meet at Villanova University on October 30-November 1 to decide the final order of finish in the division.  Due to the size of the Mid-Atlantic Division, only the top seven teams will compete for the championship as the No. 1-4 squads from the East and the No. 1-3 teams from the West are guaranteed to finish no lower than seventh in the divsion with the possibility of being Mid-Atlantic champion. The remaining six teams will seek to finish No. 8-12 in the final division standings.

The University of Pennsylvania will enter the new season looking to equal its own mark from the early 1990's as the Quakers will seek to capture their third consecutive division championship.  The 2007 and 2008 champions, Penn previously took the 1995-97 and 2002 titles in nine trips to the championship game as the Red and Blue standout as the preeminent team in the history of the division with six championships.

Four-time champion Villanova University (2000-01, 2003-04) and two-time titleist Penn State University (1998, 2005) will also seek to take the championship as the Wildcats and Nittany Lions have previously advanced to the title game eight and six times, respectively. 

In addition to longtime programs Carnegie Mellon University, Bloomsburg University, Grove City College, Penn State, University of Pittsburgh, University of Delaware, Drexel University, Lehigh University, Millersville University, Penn and Villanova, the division will also feature two new teams in 2009 as LaSalle University and Franklin & Marshall College join the league as members of the Eastern Division.