2023 MPSF Women’s Water Polo Tournament
- April 28-30, 2023
- San Jose State University, San Jose, Calif.
- Water Polo
- MPSF Women’s Water Polo Championship Central
- Live Results
The second-ranked Stanford women’s water polo team led from the get-go en route to claiming their second consecutive MPSF conference championship title, downing #1 USC 12-7 in the Sunday finale at San Jose State.
The Cardinal earned victory behind a standout offensive effort from redshirt senior Aria Fischer, who picked up four goals and added three assists in the win. The team also received multi-goal efforts from Jenna Flynn, Jewel Roemer and Sophie Wallace.
Stanford (21-1, 5-1 MPSF) earns the conference’s automatic spot at the NCAA Championships with the victory.
The Trojans were led by Tilly Kearns and Paige Hauschild, who earned two goals apiece in the losing effort.
USC beat the Cardinal earlier this season to steal the #1 ranking from the defending national champions, though that will shift after Sunday’s result.
The two teams also went head-to-head in the 2022 NCAA final, with Stanford winning by a final score of 10-7.
Stanford also secured wins over San Jose State (16-5) and UCLA (11-9) to make it to the final, while USC took down Cal (16-10) in the semis after getting a bye through the opening round as the top seed.
The Golden Bears went on to defeat UCLA in the third-place game on Sunday (12-11) to round out the top three, while Arizona State defeated Indiana 13-10 in overtime to take fifth place.
The qualifiers for the NCAA Championships will be announced Monday at 5 p.m. ET.
The top team in each of the six conferences earns an automatic spot in the NCAA Championships, and then three additional squads earn at-large bids. The at-large selections usually go to three teams from the MPSF, with USC, Cal and UCLA in position to earn them just like they did last year.