Chapman hosting its first WWPA Men's Championship this weekend

ORANGE, Calif. - For the first time, Chapman University is hosting the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Men's Championship Nov. 20-22 at the Allred Aquatics Center. Chapman University earned the No.8 seed and plays its first game of the tournament on Friday at 1:30 p.m. against top-seeded Loyola Marymount University.

The tournament field consists of eight teams - four NCAA Division I teams, one from NCAA Division II and three from NCAA Division III - playing for the WWPA's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA tournament which will be held at Princeton University Dec. 5-6.

The 2009 WWPA Championship field includes five of the top-16 nationally ranked teams including No.6 Loyola Marymount University, No. 11 UC San Diego, No. 13 Santa Clara University, No. 14 Air Force and No. 16 UC Davis. Also included is Chapman along with Whittier College and the University of Redlands who are automatic-qualifiers from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).

Loyola Marymount University enters the championship with an undefeated WWPA record and is the No. 1 seed.  LMU looks to return to the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight year and fifth time in the last six years. Since 2003, UC San Diego is the only other WWPA team to earn an NCAA Tournament bid. Following No. 1 LMU is No. 2 Air Force Academy, No. 3 UC San Diego, No. 4 Santa Clara University, No. 5 UC Davis, No. 6 University of Redlands, No. 7 Whittier College and No. 8 Chapman University.

The tournament schedule is as follows.

2009 WWPA CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE/RESULTS

Friday, November 21 - Dark Caps vs. White Caps
Game 1 - 10:00 am - #2 Air Force vs. #7 Whittier
Game 2 - 11:45 am - #3 UC San Diego vs. #6 Redlands
Game 3 - 1:30 pm - #1 LMU vs. #8 Chapman
Game 4 - 3:15 pm - #4 Santa Clara vs. #5 UC Davis

Saturday, November 21, 2009
Game 5 - 10:00 am - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 6 - 11:45 pm - Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
Game 7 - 1:30 pm - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 (Semifinals)
Game 8 - 3:15 pm - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (Semifinals)

Sunday, November 22, 2009
Game 9 - 9:00 am - Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6 (7th Place)
Game 10 - 10:45 am - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 (5th Place)
Game 11 - 12:30 pm - Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8 (3rd Place)
Game 12 - 2:30 pm - Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 (WWPA Championship)

Games will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday with the semifinals being played at 1:30 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. on Saturday. On Sunday, games will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with the championship game beginning at 2:30 p.m. followed by the presentation of All-Conference and All-Tournament awards.

Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $8 for children, seniors and students. Purchasing one ticket gets you in for the entire day. Tournament passes will not be sold however.

Scores and stats for the WWPA 2009 Men's Championship will be posted on the Chapman University athletics website link below.

http://chapmanathletics.com/wwpa/index