University of Arizona Selected as Site of 2010 Women's National Collegiate Club Championship

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- The 2010 Women's National Collegiate Club Championship will return to the Southwest Division this year as the University of Arizona has been selected as the site of the championship on April 23-25. Comprised of the 13-division champions and three other selections, the 16-team tournament is the largest collegiate water polo championship in the nation.

It marks the second time a CWPA National Collegiate Club Champion will be crowned in the "Grand Canyon State" in less than four years as Arizona also hosted the 2007 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship.

The tournament field will be comprised of the champions from the Texas, New England, Pacific Coast, Northwest, Sierra Pacific, Southwest, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Big Ten, Midwest, New York, North Atlantic and Heartland Divisions, with the runner-ups in the Pacific Coast and Midwest Divisions joining the host Wildcats with guranteed bids into the field as well.

The Pacific Coast and Midwest Division second place teams earn bids to the championship due to California Polytechnic State University (Pacific Coast) and the University of Notre Dame (Midwest) advancing to the 2009 National Collegiate Club Championship at the University of California-Davis.  Cal Poly captured the 2009 National Championship by a 6-4 final over the Fighting Irish.

Due to the size of the CWPA and the regionalization of play, teams are not seeded based on ability. The teams are placed in brackets within the championship schedule based on their division’s finish the prior season. These assignments have no relationship to the weekly National Collegiate Club Poll and nothing to do with the current ability of the team that qualifies with respect to the other programs they will compete against at the championship.

Assignments are made in a specific order to afford teams the ability to plan in advance of the event. The host team assumes the last position in Bracket A, unless they win their division. In this case, they are assigned according to their division’s finish the prior year. The second place team in their division then assumes the last position in Bracket A. Divisions or conferences that did not participate the prior year receive the lowest slots in each of the other brackets, with the remaining bids awarded in order of finish by division the prior year. If more than one division did not participate the prior year, the positions are determined by a random draw. If final standings did not determine all positions, divisions tied in the final standings are assigned by random draw to determine where they will be placed.