Bruins Awarded NCAA Tournament Top Seed
May 01, 2017 | Women's Water Polo
INDIANAPOLIS -- The No. 1 UCLA women's water polo team was awarded the top seed in the upcoming NCAA Women's National Collegiate Water Polo Championship, the NCAA Selection Committee announced Monday.
The opening round will take place May 6, as four teams are pared down to two. From there, the eight-team field will play in the tournament's first round on May 12. Semifinalists will square off on May 13 to determine the finalists for the championship game on May 14 (3:00 p.m., ET). The tournament, scheduled for May 12-14 at the IU Natatorium, will take place in Indianapolis for the first time. Indiana Sports Corp, Indiana University and the City of Indianapolis will host.
The Bruins will take on the winner of a play-in game between No. 18 UC San Diego and No. 19 Wagner in the opening game of the tournament on May 12 (12:00 p.m.). UCLA has tallied two wins over UC San Diego in local tournaments this season, and holds a 1-0 all-time record against Wagner.
UCLA, which captured the MPSF title Sunday with a 6-3 win over No. 2 Stanford, is one of seven automatic qualifiers in the field. Joining the Bruins by virtue of conference championship are UCSD (WWPA), Wagner (MAAC), No. 6 UC Irvine (Big West), No. 7 Michigan (CWPA), No. 10 Pacific (Golden Coast) and Pomona-Pitzer (SCIAC). The MPSF swept the three at-large bids, as No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 USC and No. 5 California round out the 10-team field.
Fourth-seeded UC Irvine will take on California (1:45 p.m.) on the Bruins' half of the bracket. Pacific and Pomona-Pitzer, meanwhile, will face off in the other play-in game for a chance to play second-seeded Stanford in the first round (3:30 p.m.). Third-seeded USC will take on Michigan (5:15 p.m.) in Friday's last game.
For more information about the championship, click here.