Trojans Take Top Seed For NCAA Championships
April 27, 2009 | Women's Water Polo
April 27, 2009
2009 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET 
The No. 1 USC women's water polo team will ride a 14-game winning streak across the country, touching down as the top seed for the 2009 NCAA Championships. The Women of Troy - holding a 24-1 overall record and fresh off their second MPSF Championship victory - secured the No. 1 seed today, joining seven other teams for tournament play in College Station, Md., from May 8-10. It will be the Trojans' sixth consecutive trip to the NCAA tourney since USC won the title in its first appearance in 2004. USC finished second in 2008 and 2006 and took third in 2005 and 2007 to hold a 10-4 record in its five previous NCAA appearances.
USC earned an automatic bid into the 2009 NCAA Championship thanks to its run to the MPSF Championship this past weekend in Hawai'i. Also receiving automatic bids as conference champions are No. 5 seed Loyola Marymount (24-7, Western Water Polo Association), No. 6 seed Michigan (33-8, Collegiate Water Polo Association), No. 7 seed Marist (18-13, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) and No. 8 seed Cal Lutheran (19-12, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). The rest of the field is comprised of fellow MPSF teams, as the No. 2 seed went to MPSF runner-up Stanford (24-3), with UCLA (22-6) at No. 3 and Hawai'i (18-8) at No. 4.
As the No. 1 seed, USC will open the 2009 NCAA Championships against No. 8 seed Cal Lutheran at 5 p.m ET on Friday, May 8 at Maryland's Campus Recreation Center. Complete NCAA bracket is attached as a PDF.
