2024 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship

2024 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship

Tournament details
Dates	May 10–12, 2024
Teams	9
Final positions
Champions	UCLA
Runner-up	California
Third place	Hawaii and Stanford
Awards
Best player	Lauren Steele (UCLA)
←  2023 2025  →

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. Other matches were streamed on NCAA.com. The UCLA Bruins defeated Cal to win the national championship, first since 2009 and the 123rd NCAA title for the university.

Qualifying teams

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

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	1,585

Tournament bracket

	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

First Team

• Lauren Steele (Most Outstanding Player, UCLA)
• Hannah Palmer (UCLA)
• Anna Pearson (UCLA)
• Bia Mantellato Dias (Hawaii)
• Bernadette Doyle (Hawaii)
• Maryn Dempsey (California)
• Sophie Wallace (Stanford)

Second Team

• Kayla Yelensky (Princeton)
• Nina Flynn (California)
• Isabel Williams (California)
• Hailey Andress (Fresno State)
• Tina Hicks (Stanford)
• Ava Striker (USC)
• Acba Monarusa Boix (Hawaii)

References

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.