Women’s water polo earns No. 3 seed for NCAA Tournament
2011 NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD
Eight of the best women's water polo teams in the country will head to Ann Arbor, Mich. for the NCAA Tournament, which runs May 13-15.
No. 1 Stanford (MPSF at-large, 25-1)
No. 2 California (MPSF champion, 24-4)
No. 3 UCLA (MPSF at-large, 24-6)
No. 4 USC (MPSF at-large, 18-6)
No. 5 UC Irvine (Big West champion, 21-8)
No. 6 Indiana (CWPA champion, 25-11)
No. 7 UC San Diego (WWPA champion, 17-18)
No. 8 Iona/Redlands (MAAC/SCIAC champions)
SOURCE: NCAA
Compiled by Ryan Menezes, Bruin Sports senior staff.
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 2, 2011 11:49 p.m.
As the No. 3 seed at the 2009 NCAA Tournament, the UCLA women’s water polo team took home the national championship, its fifth in a row.
A year later, the No. 3-seeded Bruins were ousted in the first round in the biggest upset in the NCAA Tournament’s short history.
Now, for the third straight year, UCLA has once again received the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Coach Brandon Brooks said Sunday that he had expected UCLA to be seeded third in the eight-team tournament, which will be held May 13-15 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Bruins will open against the No. 6-seeded Indiana Hoosiers, who earned an automatic bid by virtue of winning the Collegiate Water Polo Association Tournament. UCLA previously beat Indiana this season, 9-4, on Feb. 6.
As is historically the case, the top-four seeds in the NCAA field went to four Mountain Pacific Sports Federation teams: Stanford earned the top seed, followed by California, UCLA and USC. UCLA finished 4-5 against its three MPSF counterparts during the season.
The winner of the UCLA-Indiana matchup will face the winner of the match between Cal and UC San Diego.
UCLA earned an at-large bid after finishing runner-up to Cal in the MPSF Tournament, which was held this weekend in San Jose. The loss to the Bears came a day after the Bruins took down the undefeated and top-seeded Cardinal.
Compiled by Ryan Menezes, Bruin Sports senior staff.
