Stanford Seeded Second

STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford, the only women's water polo team that has competed at every NCAA Championship since its inception in 2001, will make its 19th consecutive appearance in 2019. The Cardinal earned the No. 2 seed via an at-large berth to the field when the NCAA Women's Water Polo Committee announced the bracket on Monday evening.
 
Stanford is hosting the 2019 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship for a record fifth time (2001, 2004, 2008, 2015). Four years ago, the Cardinal became the first host institution to win a national championship in its home pool when it beat UCLA, 7-6, on a successful five-meter penalty from Kiley Neushul with 11 seconds remaining. Tickets for this year's tournament are on sale now by visiting gostanford.com/tickets.
 
Ten teams will be vying for an NCAA crown. The top six teams have been placed in the bracket; the remaining four teams will compete for the last two berths in the bracket via two opening-round games.
 
The opening-round games will be played on Tuesday, May 7 at Avery Aquatic Center on Stanford's campus. The winners will advance to the championship, which will be held at the same facility May 10-12. The 2019 championship will be an eight-team, single-elimination tournament (seven games).
 
The Cardinal will begin its tournament on Friday, May 10 at 3:30 p.m. PT against the winner of Pacific (17-8) and California Lutheran (20-8). Those two teams will meet at 1:45 p.m. next Tuesday.
 
Stanford will be looking for its sixth NCAA championship in nine seasons and seventh in program history. The Cardinal has advanced to the title game each of the past nine years, winning it all in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017. Stanford, 20-2 overall this season, has accumulated a record of 245-27 (.901) since 2010.
 
In the other opening-round game, Wagner (29-8) will face UC San Diego (20-14) at 12 p.m. That winner will be placed in the championship bracket to play top-seeded USC (26-1) on May 11 at noon PT. Rounding out the bracket will be No. 4 California (16-8) facing Hawaii (18-5) at 1:45 p.m. PT and No. 4 UCLA (23-6) competing against Michigan (23-8) at 5:15 p.m. PT.