Collegiate Cup in Irvine

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Ten of the top teams in women's collegiate water polo, including defending NCAA Champion Stanford, will compete this weekend at the William Woollett Aquatic Center in Irvine, Calif. in the first ever USA Water Polo Collegiate Cup. The ten college teams will be joined in the competition by the USA Women's National Team split into two squads for a 12-team tournament. 

Olympic gold medalists Kami Craig, Courtney Mathewson, and Stanford alumna Melissa Seidemann will compete for the split USA squads while other National Team athletes that were part of Team USA's gold medal at the 2014 FINA World Cup will be competing for their collegiate teams including the Cardinal's Maggie Steffens and Kiley Neushul and UCLA’s Rachel Fattal, Sami Hill and Alys Williams.  Additional athletes for the two National Team squads include World Cup Gold Medalists KK Clark and Kaleigh Gilchrist along with athletes from USA Youth and Cadet National Teams. 

The Cardinal's Saturday slate includes games against Indiana (8:30 a.m.) and USA Blue (11:30 a.m.) and will be capped with an exhibition against Team USA at 5 p.m. 

Stanford captured its third NCAA title in four years, and fourth overall, with a 9-5 victory over UCLA this past May. The NCAA Championship was the 105th won by a Cardinal team, and extended the school’s national-best streak of years with at least one NCAA title to 38.

In addition to Stanford, other colleges competing include: UCLA, USC, San Jose State, UC Irvine, California, Indiana, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, and Michigan. 

For a tournament schedule, click here. For tournament rosters, click here.