University of Massachusets Athletics
NCAA Men's Water Polo Final Four Field Is Set
November 26, 2001 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 26, 2001
INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA Men's Water Polo Committee announced today the four teams participating in the 2001 National Collegiate championship.
This year's championship, hosted by Stanford University, will be held December 1-2, in Palo Alto, Calif.
In the first national semifinal on Saturday, Dec. 1, top-ranked Stanford (20-1) will play the University of Massachusetts (28-5) at 4:00 p.m. EST followed by the University of California, Los Angeles (15-4) versus Loyola Marymount University (14-13) at 5:30 p.m. EST
"Stanford is the No. 1 team in the country so we look forward to the challenge of playing them," said UMass head coach Russ Yarworth. "They have the best player in the country and he is just a freshman so this will be the best competition that we have seen thus far. It will also be the last games for their coach so it will be a very emotional time for them."
Conferences receiving automatic qualification were: Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (Stanford), the Collegiate Water Polo Association (UMass) and the Western Water Polo Association (Loyola Marymount University). The remaining team (UCLA) was selected at large without geographical restrictions.
A four-team, single-elimination tournament will be played, with a losers' bracket to determine third place. The championship game will be Sunday, Dec. 2 at 5:30 p.m. EST
Last year, defending national champion UCLA defeated University of California, San Diego, 11-2, to capture its seventh championship.
The Minutemen will look to be the first team outside of California since the tournament began in 1969 to reach the Championship final.
All four games of the championship will be broadcast live on the Internet through ncaachampionships.com. You will need Windows Media Player in order to listen.
