2024 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship
Collegiate water polo championship
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The 2024 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship was the 23rd edition of the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship, the annual tournament which is to decide the championship of NCAA women's collegiate water polo. The tournament was held from May 10 to May 12, 2024, at the Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley, California. The championship game aired live on ESPNU. Other matches were streamed on NCAA.com. The UCLA Bruins defeated Cal to win the national championship, first since 2009 as well the 8th in this sport plus it was the 123rd NCAA title for the university.
| |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | May 10–12, 2024 |
| Teams | 9 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | UCLA |
| Runners-up | California |
| Third place | Hawaii and Stanford |
| Awards | |
| Best player | Lauren Steele (UCLA) |
Qualifying teams
The field of teams was revealed in a selection show on April 29, 2024. Six conferences were granted automatic qualification to the championship: the Big West Conference, Collegiate Water Polo Association, Golden Coast Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and Western Water Polo Association. Three additional teams earned entry into the tournament with at-large bids, with all of them coming from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.[1]
| Seed | Team | Conference | Bid type | Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | MPSF | Automatic | 22nd[2] |
| 2 | Hawai'i | Big West | Automatic | 8th[3] |
| 3 | California | MPSF | At-large | 10th |
| 4 | Stanford | MPSF | At-large | 23rd |
| USC | MPSF | At-large | 19th | |
| Fresno State | GCC | Automatic | 4th | |
| Princeton | CWPA | Automatic | 5th | |
| Biola | WWPA | Automatic | 2nd | |
| Wagner College | MAAC | Automatic | 1st |
Schedule and results
| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | TV | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Round – Wednesday, May 8 | |||||
| 1 | 8:00 p.m. | Wagner vs. Biola | 15–14 | NCAA.com | |
| Quarterfinals – Friday, May 10 | |||||
| 2 | 3:00 p.m. | No. 1 UCLA vs. Wagner | 17–7 | NCAA.com | |
| 3 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 4 Stanford vs. USC | 8–3 | ||
| 4 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 2 Hawaii vs. Princeton | 11–6 | ||
| 5 | 9:00 p.m. | No. 3 California vs. Fresno State | 14–7 | ||
| Semifinals – Saturday, May 11 | |||||
| 6 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 4 Stanford | 10–8 | NCAA.com | |
| 7 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 2 Hawaii vs. No. 3 California | 6–9 | ||
| Championship – Sunday, May 12 | |||||
| 8 | 10:00 p.m. | No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 3 California | 7–4 | ESPNU | 1,585 |
Tournament bracket
| Opening round Wednesday, May 8, 2024 | Quarterfinals Friday, May 10, 2024 | Semifinals Saturday, May 11, 2024 | Championship Sunday, May 12, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | UCLA | 17 | |||||||||||||||||
| Wagner | 15 | Wagner | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| Biola | 14 | 1 | UCLA | 10 | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Stanford | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Stanford | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| USC | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | UCLA | 7 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | California | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Hawaii | 11 | |||||||||||||||||
| Princeton | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Hawaii | 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | California | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | California | 14 | |||||||||||||||||
| Fresno State | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
All Tournament Team
First Team
- Lauren Steele (Most Outstanding Player, UCLA)
- Hannah Palmer (UCLA)
- Anna Pearson (UCLA)
- Bia Mantellato Dias (Hawaii)
- Bernadette Doyle (Hawaii)
- Maryn Dempsey (California)
- Sophie Wallace (Stanford)
Second Team
- Kayla Yelensky (Princeton)
- Nina Flynn (California)
- Isabel Williams (California)
- Hailey Andress (Fresno State)
- Tina Hicks (Stanford)
- Ava Striker (USC)
- Acba Monarusa Boix (Hawaii)
