Water polo draws Air Force for WWPA first round game
ORANGE, Calif. – The Western Water Polo Association announced on Sunday night the seeding for the 2010 WWPA Men's Championships at Santa Clara University, and the Chapman University men's water polo team received the No. 10 seed.
Air Force (10-17, 5-10) is a familiar foe as Chapman lost a pair of games to the Falcons in Colorado Springs at the beginning of the season. The Falcons won the first game 15-7 and the second game 11-7. Junior utility Pierre Masson - the team's third-leading scorer with 26 goals - combined to score five goals in Chapman's two previous games vs. Air Force.
Leading the Panthers' attack is senior driver Chase Parlee who has a team-high 63 goals and 39 steals to go along with 16 assists. Parlee combined for three goals against Air Force in Sept. Setting the table for Chapman's offense is senior utility Stephen Neville who has a team-high 43 assists to go with 40 goals. In net, sophomore Taylor Roszkos averages nearly 14 blocks per game and is coming of career-high 18 save effort in a 9-6 loss to Pomona-Pitzer. Freshman 2M-D Brett Carter is third on the team with 25 assists and fourth in goals with 22.
Loyola Marymount University (16-8, 13-1) who has won the WWPA Championships three-consecutive seasons and seven times overall is the top seed once again followed by No. 2 UC Davis (16-9, 13-1), No. 3 UC San Diego (12-11, 8-4), No. 4 Santa Clara (17-14, 7-7) and No. 5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (17-12, 9-7). Rounding out the field is No. 6 Pomona-Pitzer (16-16, 9-8), Air Force, No. 8 Redlands (18-14, 9-6), No. 9 Whittier (13-18, 7-10) and Chapman.
The winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid to the 2010 National Collegiate Water Polo Championship hosted by the University of California, Berkeley on Dec. 4-5. Loyola Marymount and UC San Diego are the only teams to have advanced to the National Championships from the WWPA.
Chapman is 3-9 this season against WWPA competition with a win against Occidental and two against La Verne but has not defeated a WWPA team in this year's field. Chapman is 0-10 all-time in WWPA Championship play.
2010 WWPA Men's Championships Schedule
Friday, November 19 - Dark Caps vs. White Caps
Game 01: 9:00 a.m. - No. 7 Air Force (10-17) vs. No. 10 Chapman (11-13)
Game 02: 10:20 a.m. - No. 8 Redlands (18-14) vs. No. 9 Whittier (13-18)
Game 03: 11:40 a.m. - No. 4 Santa Clara (17-14) vs. No. 5 Claremont (17-12)
Game 04: 1:00 p.m. - No. 3 UC San Diego (12-11) vs. No. 6 Pomona-Pitzer (16-16)
Game 05: 2:20 p.m. - No. 2 UC Davis (16-9) vs. Winner of Game #1
Game 06: 3:40 p.m. - No. 1 LMU (16-8) vs. Winner of Game #2
Saturday, November 20
Game 07: 9:00 a.m. - Loser Game #3 vs. Loser Game #1
Game 08: 10:20 a.m. - Loser Game #4 vs. Loser Game #2
Game 09: 11:40 a.m. - SEMIFINAL #1 - Winner Game #5 vs. Winner Game #4
Game 10: 1:00 p.m. - SEMIFINAL #2 - Winner Game #6 vs. Winner Game #3
Game 11: 2:20 p.m. - Winner Game #7 vs. Loser Game #6
Game 12: 3:40 p.m. - Winner Game #8 vs. Loser Game #5
Sunday, November 21
Game 13: 8:00 a.m. - Ninth Place - Loser Game #8 vs. Loser Game #7
Game 14: 9:20 a.m. - Seventh Place - Loser Game #12 vs. Loser Game #11
Game 15: 10:40 a.m. - Fifth Place - Winner Game #11 vs. Winner Game #12
Game 16: 12:00 p.m. - Third Place - Loser Game #9 vs. Loser Game #10
Game 17: 1:30 p.m. - CHAMPIONSHIP - Winner Game #10 vs. Winner Game #9
WWPA's official press release.
by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant