Staten Island, NY - The stage is set for the 2014 NCAA Water Polo Championships, as the MAAC Champion Wagner College Seahawks will battle the CWPA Champs Indiana University in one of two play-in games for the tournament. Wagner will travel to Bloomington, Indiana for a 2:00 pm contest on Saturday, May 3rd with the winner drawing #1 Stanford.
Wagner earned a trip to the NCAA Championships after rattling off 10-straight wins, and defeating Villanova and Marist this past weekend in the MAAC Tournament. This will be the first trip to the NCAA Tournament for the 25-11 Seahawks since 2007, when Wagner won the programs last MAAC Championship.
"Indiana is a good program, very well coached, and has a ton of quality players," Head Water Polo Coach Chris Radmonovich said. "It will be a tough game for us, but I know our team will be well-prepared for the matchup."
Indiana earns their third trip to the NCAA Tournament after posting a 22-5 record on the year, including a perfect 14-0 mark in the CWPA. The #12 Hoosiers knocked off Connecticut College 19-1 in the opening round of the tournament, before topping #20 Michigan 14-7 in the semifinals. In the CWPA Championship game, Indiana took down #9 Princeton 11-10 to earn a berth in the field.
Co-Captains Stacy McGregor (Sinking Spring, PA / Wilson) and Rachel Burns (Auckland, New Zealand / Diocesan) are thrilled with the chance to compete on the NCAA stage.
"We are excited to play and have the opportunity to compete," McGregor said. "We have been playing our best lately, and have earned it with the season we have had."
"We have had such a strong team this year and to continue on is something I'm looking forward to," Burns said.
The winner of this game will take on the #1 overall seed Cardinal of Stanford University. Stanford is 22-1 on the season, with the Cardinal's lone loss coming to UCLA, who earned the #2 seed in the tournament.
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