Bridgeport, Pa.----- For the first time in four seasons, San Jose State University finished in the top-15 in the final Collegiate Water Polo Association women's water polo national coaches' poll.
With wins over California, ranked #6 on the date of the match, and a pair of victories over UC-Davis, the Spartans were ranked 14th. UC Davis was ranked 14th and 15th when San Jose State emerged with one-goal wins. The Spartans' 9-8 triumph over Cal was their first since 2007. San Jose State (5-12) also posted a 7-6 triumph over #13-Fresno State, a team ranked 11th in the final poll.
The last time San Jose State was in the top-15 was in 2016 when the team finished ranked 11th. From 2017 through 2019, the Spartans were either 20th or 21st in the final rankings.
"I'm really excited about our ranking. It is a huge measurable, a level of our progress, and a positive reinforcement," said first-year head coach Beth Harberts, whose team played 10 matches against top-10 teams in the final poll during the abbreviated 2020 season.
"I want to play top-10 teams, because that's who we need to compete against," added Harberts, who played on four Spartan top-10 nationally-ranked teams in her five seasons between 2003 and 2007.
Though San Jose State lost to #1-USC, 15-11, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference match, the Spartans' 11 goals were the most the team scored in any one match against the Trojans in series history and matched the most goals scored against USC in a 2020 contest. USC's average margin of victory this season was 9.0 goals per match.
"I believe our depth improved. We had a lot of women step up and had a variety of role players. We had defensive specialists and more counter-attack players. It was cool to see them improve in such a short time and I was able to give more players playing time," said the Spartans' head coach.
Final Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) women's water polo national poll
March 18, 2020
School Points
1. USC 100
2. Stanford 94
UCLA 94
4. Hawaii 88
5. UC Irvine 84
6. Arizona State 80
7. Michigan 75
8. UC Santa Barbara 71
9. California 68
10. UC San Diego 62
11. Fresno State 60
12. LMU 53
Long Beach State 53
14. San Jose State 48
15. Indiana 43
16. San Diego State 40
17. UC Davis 34
18. Wagner 30
19. CSUN 27
20. Harvard 24
Princeton 24
22. Pacific 14
23. Bucknell 11
Marist 11
25. Cal Baptist 4
Also receiving votes: Cal State East Bay, 3; Brown, 2; Azusa Pacific, Cal Lutheran, 1, each.
