The top two teams remained the same in collegiate women’s water polo poll after Week 1 of competition.
USC, which will play its first match of the season on Saturday, is holding down the #1 position after leading the preseason poll. Stanford went 2-0, downing San Jose State 13-5 and Sonoma State 18-6 on Saturday.
UC Irvine moved up two spots from #5 to #3 after besting #4 Cal 12-7 and #7 Michigan 14-9 on Saturday at the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invite. The Anteaters’ win over Cal, which saw five players notch two goals apiece, was the program’s first since 2005. Elena Flynn and Tara Prentice paced UCI with four goals each against the Wolverines.
Hawaii climbed from #6 to #4 with a 3-0 effort at their home Hawaii Invite. The Rainbow Wahine topped #12 Loyola Marymount 21-5 and #14 Fresno State 15-5 on Saturday and #23 Marist 22-8 on Sunday. Alba Bonamusa Boix put in 10 goals over the three wins, with five against Marist, four vs. LMU and one against Fresno State.
UCLA rounds out the top five, falling three spots from #2 despite going 3-1 on the weekend. The Bruins started the weekend with a 16-6 win over #22 Cal State Northridge, but fell to host #11 UC Santa Barbara 9-8 to close out Friday. UCLA rebounded with three straight wins, topping #13 UC San Diego 8-6 and Iona 16-4 on Saturday and Ottawa (Ariz.) 14-2 on Sunday. Abbi Hill paced the Bruins with nine goals.
Cal dropped out of the top five, falling from #4 to #6. The Bears dropped their opening match to UC Irvine (12-7), but came back to beat #11 UC Santa Barbara 8-5 and #7 Michigan 8-7. A 14-13 sudden death loss to #13 UC San Diego capped the team’s stay in Santa Barbara.
UC San Diego was the biggest mover of the week, vaulting up five spots from #13 to #8. The Tritons went 3-1 in Santa Barbara. After falling to #2 UCLA 8-6, the team rounded out the weekend with wins over Ottawa (Ariz.) (18-0), Iona (19-8) and #4 Cal (14-13 3OT). Ciara Franke put in eight goals for UCSD.
Cal State Northridge moved up three spots from 22 to 19. The Matadors bested #25 Azusa Pacific 7-6 and fell to #2 UCLA 16-6 on Friday. The team then split its Saturday matches, falling to #7 Michigan 8-7 and topping Ottawa (Ariz.) 14-3.
Loyola Marymount fell four spots from #12 to #16 after going 1-2 at the Hawaii Invite. The Lions dropped their opener against the Rainbow Wahine 21-5, but bounced back with a 14-8 win over #23 Marist. #14 Fresno State handed LMU an 8-6 loss on Sunday.
Brown, Santa Clara and Pomona Pitzer each received votes for the first time in 2020. Brown and Pomona-Pitzer did not play on Week 1.
Santa Clara, meanwhile, split contests at the UC Davis Tournament on Sunday. The Broncos beat Fresno Pacific 13-7, before falling to the host Aggies 11-4.
CWPA Top 25 Poll – Jan. 22, 2020
| Rank | Team | 2020 Preseason Poll | Points |
| 1 | University of Southern California | 1 | 99 |
| 2 | Stanford University | 2 (T) | 96 |
| 3 | University of California-Irvine | 5 | 92 |
| 4 | University of Hawaii | 6 | 87 |
| 5 | University of California-Los Angeles | 2 (T) | 81 |
| 6 | University of California | 4 | 79 |
| 7 | University of Michigan | 7 | 74 |
| 8 | University of California-San Diego | 13 | 71 |
| 9 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 11 | 70 |
| 10 | Arizona State University | 8 | 68 |
| 11 | University of the Pacific | 9 | 62 |
| 12 | University of California-Davis | 10 | 57 |
| 13 | Fresno State University | 14 | 51 |
| 14 (T) | Princeton University | 15 (T) | 41 |
| 14 (T) | Long Beach State University | 15 (T) | 41 |
| 16 | Loyola Marymount University | 12 | 40 |
| 17 | Harvard University | 17 | 39 |
| 18 | San Jose State University | 18 | 32 |
| 19 | California State University-Northridge | 22 | 26 |
| 20 | San Diego State University | 19 | 24 |
| 21 | Wagner College | 21 | 19 |
| 22 | Bucknell University | 20 | 18 |
| 23 | Indiana University | 23 (T) | 10 |
| 24 (T) | Azusa Pacific University | 25 | 8 |
| 24 (T) | Marist College | 23 (T) | 8 |
| RV | California Baptist University | RV | 2 |
| RV | Brown University | NR | 2 |
| RV | Santa Clara University | NR | 2 |
| RV | California State University-East Bay | RV | 1 |
| RV | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | NR | 1 |