The top eight spots in the collegiate women’s water polo Top 25 poll remained in tact after Week 8 action. USC holds down the #1 spot for the second straight week, followed Stanford and UCLA in a tie at #2, Hawaii at #4 and UC Irvine at #5.
There were four upsets on Week 8, with #15 Long Beach State topping #10 UC San Diego, #24 Marist defeating #17 Harvard in overtime, RV Brown edging #24 Marist 11-8 and Salem squeaking past RV Brown 13-12.
With UCSD’s loss to Long Beach State, the Tritons fell out of the Top 10, moving down to #11 as Fresno State took their spot at #10, up from #11.
With the win, LBSU was the week’s biggest climber, vaulting from #15 into a tie for #12 with Loyola Marymount. The 6-4 victory saw Sarah Barker log a hat trick for the 49ers to open Big West play. It was the team’s lone contest of the week.
Wagner moved up two spots from #19 to #17 and Cal State Northridge ascended to positions from #21 to #19. The Seahawks went 3-0 at the Harvard Invitational, besting Connecticut College (23-5), #25 Cal State East Bay (13-7) and #22 Bucknell (15-5).
Wagner had four four-goal efforts on the weekend as Kristen Saczynski put in four scores vs. the Camels, Abbey Simshauser did so against the Pioneers and Jacqui Sjogren and Skye Nankervis.
Northridge moved up despite falling to #8 UC Santa Barbara 9-8 in overtime on Saturday. UCSB scored four goals in the fourth quarter and the game winner in the second extra stanza to overcome a hat trick by the Matadors’ Madasonne Butler.
Harvard was the biggest mover of the week, falling four spots from #17 to #21 with the loss to Marist. The Crimson went 2-1 at their home invitational, besting LIU Brooklyn 18-8 and #25 Cal State East Bay 16-15, to sandwich their 12-11 overtime loss to #24 Marist.
Cal State East Bay dropped from #25 into the list of vote getters outside of the Top 25 after a 1-3 weekend in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Pioneers topped Salem 17-7 following losses to #22 Bucknell (12-9), #19 Wagner (13-7) and #17 Harvard (16-15).
Meanwhile, Cal Baptist and Brown both check in at #25 after receiving votes a week ago.
The Lancers posted a 4-0 weekend at the Claremont Convergence, defeating St. Francis Brooklyn (11-5), Saint Francis (Pa.), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (10-2), and Pomona-Pitzer (18-12). Kira O’Donnell scored four goals apiece vs. SFC and SFU, while Amy Branch starred with five goals across the final two contests.
The Bears dropped their weekend open to Salem (13-12), but rebounded with wins over #24 Marist (11-9), LIU Brooklyn (15-4) and Iona (15-14 SD) to close out the Harvard Invitational. Katie Dvonch scored five goals in the loss, while Linnea Kelly added a hat trick vs. Marist. Dvonch chipped in hat tricks vs. LIU and Iona, while Claire Pisani and Lexi Atwell joined her vs. the Sharks and the Gaels respectively.
Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Top 25
March 11, 2020
| Rank | Team | Week 7 Poll | Points |
| 1 | University of Southern California | 1 | 100 |
| 2 (T) | Stanford University | 2 (T) | 94 |
| 2 (T) | University of California-Los Angeles | 2 (T) | 94 |
| 4 | University of Hawaii | 4 | 88 |
| 5 | University of California-Irvine | 5 | 84 |
| 6 | Arizona State University | 6 | 80 |
| 7 | University of Michigan | 7 | 76 |
| 8 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 8 (T) | 70 |
| 9 | University of California | 8 (T) | 69 |
| 10 | Fresno State University | 11 | 62 |
| 11 | University of California-San Diego | 10 | 58 |
| 12 (T) | Loyola Marymount University | 12 | 53 |
| 12 (T) | Long Beach State University | 15 | 53 |
| 14 | San Jose State University | 13 | 48 |
| 15 | Indiana University | 14 | 44 |
| 16 | San Diego State University | 16 | 41 |
| 17 | Wagner College | 19 | 32 |
| 18 | University of California-Davis | 18 | 31 |
| 19 | California State University-Northridge | 21 | 26 |
| 20 | Princeton University | 20 | 25 |
| 21 | Harvard University | 17 | 20 |
| 22 | University of the Pacific | 23 | 16 |
| 23 | Bucknell University | 22 | 13 |
| 24 | Marist College | 24 | 10 |
| 25 (T) | California Baptist University | RV | 4 |
| 25 (T) | Brown University | RV | 4 |
| RV | California State University-East Bay | 25 | 3 |
| RV | Azusa Pacific University | RV | 1 |