2024 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship

The 2024 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship was the 22nd edition of the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship, the annual tournament 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. The UCLA Bruins defeated Cal to win the national championship, first since 2009 and the 123rd NCAA title for the university.

2024 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship
Tournament details
DatesMay 10–12, 2024
Teams9
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Qualifying teams

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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

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All times Eastern.[4]

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

Tournament bracket

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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

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  • Lauren Steele, UCLA (Most Outstanding player)

References

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  1. ^ "2024 NCAA women's water polo championship: How to watch the selection show, bracket, schedule". NCAA.com. NCAA. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  2. ^ "No. 1 UCLA Earns Top Seed for 2024 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship". uclabruins.com. UCLA Athletics. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Water Polo Earns No. 2 Seed in NCAA Tournament; Faces Princeton in Quarterfinals". hawaiiathletics.com. Hawaii. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  4. ^ "2024 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship". NCAA.com. NCAA. Retrieved 30 April 2024.