2025 Women's College Season

College - Women
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The 2025 NCAA women’s water polo season begins in mid-January. I think the quality of play will be particularly strong this season because many athletes are returning to college after missing the 2024 season to participate in, or train for, the 2024 Olympics. For example, Stanford’s 2025 team will feature five Olympians: three from the United States, one from Canada, and one from France (a transfer from Arizona State), and one athlete who redshirted in 2025 to train with the U.S. senior national team.

Men’s water polo became an official NCAA varsity sport in 1969. Unfortunately, the women’s game took longer to develop. The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) recognized women’s varsity water polo during the 1995-96 school year. From 1995 through 2000, some college coaches organized an unofficial national collegiate championship tournament. Slippery Rock University won the unofficial championship in 1995. USC won in 1999. UCLA won in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2000.

The NCAA recognized women’s water polo as an official varsity sport during the 2000-01 school year and the first NCAA championship tournament was held in 2001. Here is a list of the NCAA champions from 2001 through 2024:

2001 - UCLA
2002 - Stanford
2003 - UCLA
2004 - USC
2005 - UCLA
2006 - UCLA
2007 - UCLA
2008 - UCLA
2009 - UCLA
2010 - USC
2011 - Stanford
2012 - Stanford
2013 - USC
2014 - Stanford
2015 - Stanford
2016 - USC
2017 - Stanford
2018 - USC
2019 - Stanford
2020 - No tournament because of the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 - USC
2022 - Stanford
2023 - Stanford
2024 - UCLA

Loyola Marymount finished second in 2004 (an Olympic year). Cal finished second in 2011 and 2024 (an Olympic year). Otherwise, no school other than UCLA, Stanford, and USC has won or finished second in the NCAA tournament.

A few words about Cal, the school I attended. We often hear about a “Big 4” in men’s and women’s college water polo, referring to UCLA, Stanford, USC, and Cal. However, it would be more accurate to refer to a “Big 3” in women’s college water polo because Cal has never won an NCAA championship. Cal is usually one of the top four or five teams in the country but it has played in just two NCAA championship games.

It’s fair to ask why the Cal women’s water polo program has not approached the success of the men’s program. The short answer is that the men’s program was started, and led for more than 20 years, by Pete Cutino, perhaps America’s greatest collegiate water polo coach. Cutino, a charismatic figure, was also ahead of his time in his use of swim and water polo clubs to find and develop talented water polo players. During the NCAA era of men’s college water polo (1969 to the present), Cal has had four coaches: Cutino, Steve Heaston, Peter Asch, and Kirk Everist. Cutino and Heaston are in the Hall of Fame. Everist is a Hall-of-Fame player and has won six NCAA championships as a coach. Asch is a Hall-of-Fame player. Since Cal’s women’s program was established in 1996, Cal has had five coaches and none has held the position for more than 11 years.

Long Beach Wilson’s Maureen O’Toole, considered by many to be America’s greatest female water polo player, was the first coach of Cal’s women’s varsity team. O’Toole coached Cal during the 1996, 1997, and 1998 seasons, compiling a record of 83-18. Cal finished second in the unofficial national collegiate championships in each of those years. Since O’Toole left Cal after the 1998 season, Cal has generally been unable to recruit the top American players. Cal has had only four female water polo Olympians from the United States (Heather Petri, Ericka Lorenz, Courtney Johnson, and Elsie Windes). O’Toole coached or recruited Petri, Lorenz, and Johnson. Windes last played for Cal in 2007. Unlike Cutino, whose early success at Cal was attributable (in no small part) to his ability to recruit the best players from Cal’s backyard (Cal’s first NCAA championship team featured four players from Miramonte and one from Campolindo), O’Toole’s successors haven’t been able to recruit the top players from Contra Costa County. For example, Maggie Steffens, Jessica Steffens, Melissa Seidemann, Jewel Roemer, Kat Klass, and Sarah Klass went to Stanford, and Ava Johnson went to UCLA. The Steffens sisters and Roemer attended Stanford even though their fathers played for Cutino at Cal. On a positive note for Cal fans, Miramonte’s Rosalie Hassett is a freshman at Cal and has the potential to become a 1st team All-American.

Although Cal hasn’t won an NCAA women’s water polo championship, it has shown that it can be successful in women’s aquatics. Since the 2008-09 school year, Cal’s women’s swimming and diving team has won four NCAA championships and finished second four times.

My unofficial preseason Top 10 list for the 2025 season follows below. These rankings, which probably won’t look very good in hindsight, represent my guess about where the schools will finish at the end of the season.

  1. UCLA. UCLA was undefeated in 2024, winning its first NCAA championship since Adam Krikorian left UCLA after the 2009 season. Although I don’t think UCLA will go undefeated in 2025, I give UCLA a very slight edge over Stanford. UCLA has the best goalie in the country, three 1st team-caliber All-American centers (including Hawaii transfer Bo Mantellato Dias), and excellent depth. In addition, center Sienna Green returns to UCLA after playing for Australia in the 2024 Olympics and LH attacker Emma Lineback returns after missing the 2024 season to train with the American senior national team.

  2. Stanford. UCLA’s path to an undefeated season in 2024 was made easier because five of Stanford’s top players took the year off to play in, or train for, the Olympics: Ryan Neushul, Jewel Roemer, Jenna Flynn, Ella Woodhead, and Canadian Serena Brown. These players and Arizona State transfer Juliette Dhalluin, a LH attacker who played for France in the 2024 Olympics, help make Stanford a co-favorite to win the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Comparing the UCLA and Stanford rosters, I give UCLA the edge at goalie and center. UCLA also has more depth than Stanford. Stanford has the edge at attacker. Unlike UCLA, which returns the reigning ACWPC player of the year at goalie, Stanford must find a goalie to replace 3x All-American Maya Avital.

  3. USC. USC had a very disappointing season last year, losing to Stanford 8-3 in the NCAA quarterfinals and failing to make the semifinals for the first time since 2003. Another year or two like that and I won’t be surprised if USC makes a coaching change. If he doesn’t stay on as coach of the women’s senior national team, Adam Krikorian would be an interesting candidate for the USC position. Among other players, USC returns 2024 1st team All-American center Rachel Gazzaniga and honorable mention All-American Ava Stryker. Gazzaniga and Stryker are sophomores. Center Tilly Kearns rejoins the team after playing for Australia in the 2024 Olympics. Kearns was a Cutino Award finalist in 2023. In addition, Emily Ausmus will join the team as a freshman after playing in the 2024 Olympics. USC must find a goalie to replace 2x All-American Carolyne Stern.

  4. Cal. Last season, Cal beat Hawaii in the NCAA semifinals and lost to UCLA in the finals. I don’t think Cal can beat UCLA or Stanford in this season’s NCAA Tournament but they could finish third. Cal lost goalie Isabel Williams, the reigning Cutino Award winner, to graduation. (As an aside, Williams is a correct answer to the following trivia question: Name a male or female Cutino Award winner who was not an ACWPC 1st team All-American in the same year.) Cal also lost 1st team All-American Maryn Dempsey to graduation. Cal returns 1st All-American Nina Flynn (Flynn transferred to Cal from U.C. Irvine before the 2024 season) and several other potential All-Americans.

  5. Princeton. Princeton lost to Hawaii in the quarterfinals of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. I expect Princeton to win the Northeast Water Polo Conference again this year and to receive an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA tournament. Among others, Princeton returns goalie Lindsey Lucas, an honorable mention All-American in 2024, and Kayla Yelensky, a 2nd team All-American in 2024. Center Jovana Sekulic, a 2nd team All-American in 2023, rejoins the team after playing in the 2024 Olympics. For several years, Princeton men’s coach Dusty Litvak was an assistant coach for the women’s team and women’s team head coach Derek Ellingson was an assistant coach for the men’s team. However, beginning with the 2024-25 school year, Litvak and Ellingson are no longer serving as assistant coaches. Litvak is one of America’s best coaches. I’d feel more confident about my Princeton pick if Litvak was still an assistant coach.

  6. Fresno State. Natalie Golda Benson, one of America’s greatest water polo players, has done an excellent job building the Fresno State program. Fresno State lost to Cal in the quarterfinals of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. I predict Fresno State will win the Golden Coast Conference again this year and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Fresno State returns its three leading scorers from last year’s team, All-Americans Hailey Andreas, Brooke Ochoa, and Abbey Simshauser. Like many of the teams in my list, Fresno State must find a new starting goalie.

  7. U.C. Irvine. U.C. Irvine finished tied for second in the Big West Conference last year with a record of 18-11. They return their three leading scorers from the 2024 team, including 3rd team All-American Libby Alexander. Center Nikola Thomas rejoins the team after taking last season off to train with the Australian senior national team. Thomas was a 2nd team All-American in 2023.

  8. Hawaii. Hawaii probably had its best team last year, winning the Big West Conference and making it to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. Hawaii loses its coach, the underrated Maureen Flanagan Cole, and several of its top players, including 2024 1st team All-American center Bo Mantellato Dias. Dias transferred to UCLA with two years of eligibility remaining. Former UCLA and Hawaii assistant coach James Robinson assumes the head coaching position. Robinson was named the ACWPC assistant coach of the year in 2024. Hawaii returns two All-Americans, goalie Daisy Legtens and Bernadette Doyle.

  9. Arizona State. Arizona State loses 2nd team All-American Luca Petovary, who led the MPSF in scoring last year with 122 goals. They return a solid goalie and center and honorable mention All-American Millie Quin.

  10. UCSD. UCSD returns a solid goalie, 3rd team All-American center Kendall Thomas, and honorable mention All-American Caroline Christl. Christl transferred to UCSD from Cal before the 2023 season.

(10.) Loyola Marymount (too close to call between UCSD and LMU). LMU had an excellent season last year, losing to Fresno State in the Golden Coast Conference championship game and finishing with a 27-3 record. LMU returns 2nd team All-American Ruth Arino Ruiz and possibly honorable mention All-American Skye Nankervis. Nankervis, a senior last season, has one year of eligibility remaining. LMU hasn’t posted its roster for the 2025 season. If Nankervis doesn’t use her last year of eligibility, I don’t think LMU will finish in the top 10.

Just for the heck of it. One point to the first person who tells us which college water polo player is seeking her 4th NCAA championship during the 2025 season. A bonus point to anyone who names an athlete who won four NCAA women’s water polo championships.

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I always love a good history lesson! The lore surrounding Cal is so exciting for me to learn.

To answer your question, Ryan Neushul is seeking her fourth NCAA Championship (2019, 2022, 2023) and another player who has accomplished this is Tanya Gandy who won four consecutive NCAA championships from 2006-2009 for the UCLA Bruins (most young girls won’t know her name, but they’ll know her clothing company, Jolyn!)

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  1. Stanford - they will have the best starting team and the most experience along with a very good incoming goalie and very strong coaching. They are not extremely deep, but Tanner usually does not rely on their bench.

  2. UCLA - IMHO, they have the best goalie, the best centers, the best coach and the most depth. Steele should have won the Cutino Award last year and it will be interesting to see if she can duplicate her dominate freshman season this year. It will be crucial on how Montellato Dias fits into their regimented system.

  3. USC - they are not a very deep team, but they have Kearns, Ausmus, Gazzaniga and Stryker. IMHO, they had a very disappointing year in 2024. I had them winning it all last year and I think that they should be right there again this year.

  4. Princeton - they have a strong starting team, including a very solid goalie, but little depth. Sevulic is an elite center, but I do not think that she will be able to dominate against the top defensive teams.

  5. Cal - they lost a tremendous goalie in Williams. Outside of Dempsey and Flynn last year, their offense was lacking and they probably over emphasized their defense. Flynn will be back and will have to shoulder the bulk of the scoring. I anticipate some new faces contributing to this team.

I do not know enough about the other teams to rank them accurately. While there may be some upsets along the way, I do not think that any teams outside of my top 5 have the talent to make it to the Championship game.

Kearns and Neushel are both 25 years old and have loads of International and Olympic experience. IMHO, they are the best two field players and either could lead their teams to an NCAA Championship. UCLA is very deep and I can’t drop them below #2, but I do not know if they have the arms to outscore either Stanford or USC. IMHO, their defense was the best in the country last year and they will have to even take it up a level this year to repeat, but if I were a betting man, my money would be on Stanford.

I do not think that either Princeton nor Cal has the depth or the overall talent to knock off any of my top 3 in the NCAA Semi-Finals, but they would be my next two choices. The NCAA Tournament can be unpredictable, like in 2023 when Princeton upset a heavily favored Cal team in the quarter-finals.

Regarding jeff’s question, I believe that Kelly Rulon won four NCAA Championships in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 while at UCLA.

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Two points to ehpolo4 for correctly telling us that Stanford’s Ryan Neushul is seeking her 4th NCAA championship and that UCLA’s Tanya Gandy won 4 NCAA championships. One point to swimcoach for correctly telling us that UCLA’s Kelly Rulon won 4 NCAA championships. Several other female players have done so.

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As usual : great writeup @jeff

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Courtney Mathewson of UCLA won four championships I believe

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One point to CalPolo1987 for correctly telling us that UCLA 's Courtney Mathewson won four NCAA championships.

I believe these are the UCLA female players to win four NCAA championships:

Kelly Rulon
Courtney Mathewson
Tanya Gandy
Anne Belden
Gabrielle Domanic
Brittany Fullen
Jilian Kraus
Katie Rulon
Kamaile Crowell

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Here are my thoughts for the upcoming season:

  1. Stanford - I think they have the good shot at going undefeated. A line up with their returning Olympians, especially Flynn, Neushul, Roemer and Dhalluin should make it difficult for any team to stop. I also think they will be extremely strong at goalie with Carpenter, who is in the National team pipeline. I’m not sure why they didn’t use her last year. Tanner is the best coach on the women’s side IMO.

  2. USC - The return of Kearns and the addition of Ausmus will be key for them. I think they also received a center from Israel and a transfer from San Jose State which should help with depth. Will also be interested to see what they do at goalie this year - do they go with Ward or Schneider.

  3. UCLA - Played well last year, especially defensively however the competition was diluted with the Olympic redshirts. Will be interesting to see how Steele performs defending shooters like Flynn, Neushul and Kearns which she didn’t have to face last year. Also, they are going to have a big void with the loss of Szegedi who was one of their top scorers last year. I don’t think they have the outside shooters that are needed to keep up with Stanford and USC.

  4. Cal should challenge UCLA for 3rd with their strong attackers - Flynn, Bonaguidi and their new Hungarian center. The big question for them will be at goal. Losing Williams will hurt.

  5. Princeton - Yelensky and Sekulic returning should help keep them in the top 5.

  6. Fresno State

  7. Hawall

  8. ASU

  9. LMU

  10. USCD

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Great writeups. The women’s season looks to be as high level as the men’s was, especially among the final four. It’s special to have Olympians playing as NCAAs. The odds of selection controversy are lower with three at-large bids, but the committee might reduce any chance of confusion by defining strength-of-schedule as playing the toughest teams.

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Since the 2024 HS class was somewhat overlooked during the transition from WPP to WPE, and since rosters are now largely posted, and since it’s relevant for the 2025 women’s season - here are the top 10 incoming 2025 season freshman classes.

  1. UCLA (Cassidy, Chalupnik, Human, Pieper, Steele, Stryker, Turner, Walters) - speed and scrappiness (and Steele). Steele will be a 2025 sophomore due to Dec '23 HS graduation and '24 season participation but even without her this is still an exceptional class. Bravo to coach Wright for locking up talent early in the process.

  2. USC (Ausmus, Knepper, Umeda, Yaacobi) - very small (but outstanding) class due to admissions/AD policies on slots required for returning Olympians (Kearns, Ausmus). With '23 HS grad and '25 freshman Ausmus included, ranks at #2 class, else drops to #4 spot solely due to class size.

  3. Stanford (DePrez, Lowell, Minton, Nowaczek, Scott, Stretz) - Stanford went heavy on 2006 Youth and is solid as always, but quick-moving UCLA grabbed a few Stanford likely wanted. Addition of Australian Scott at goalie gives needed depth.

  4. Hawaii (Brandon, Slot, Vernoux, Yim) - two 20yo Euro freshman with extensive international experience (Dutch Slot and French 2024 Olympic starter Vernoux) are a great showing for Robinson’s first class as head coach.

  5. Cal (Fonseca, Hassett, Murphy, Ramirez, Roder) - Fonseca had a similar set up as Steele, Dec '23 HS grad but '25 college sophomore. Hassett will bring needed offensive firepower after Cal’s leading scorer Dempsey graduated. 2025 roster not yet posted so might be missing one. Edit: Bogachenko, Dunn, Varro all late announcements with significant international competition experience. Enough to put this at same level as Hawaii’s class.

  6. Michigan (Bunnell, Dickens, Karampetsou, Schulz) - a top 2024 goalie Bunnell and a top international recruit (Karampetsou dropped 4 for Greece over US 2006 Youth) make this an immediate impact class.

  7. Brown (Andros, Hensley, Holman, Kim, Okafo, Schoening) - more JO podium (SET, Legacy) and US National Youth team representation than any Ivy class in recent memory. Surprising class for new head coach Addison should make CWPA interesting for next few years.

  8. UCI (Calderon, Heaver, Graniello, Murphy, Pierson) - SOCAL-UCI pipeline delivered a solid crew, and 2005 Youth/Long Beach attacker Heaver is an impact player.

  9. Harvard (Cooper, Del Villar, Piovan) - Harvard’s first Euro, Greek Piovan, and 2006 Youth goalie Cooper should both have immediate impact. But a class of three with only 12 returning seems oddly small. Will need transfers to challenge for a CWPA title.

  10. Princeton (Batizi, Brandin, Harbilas, Wyer) - taking a page from the men’s side, Hungarian Batizi is Princeton women’s first forray into Euro. Not as strong as Princeton’s exceptional 2023 and 2022 classes but still top 10.

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I might be biased, but assistant coaches definitely have a hand in these types of things.

A benefit to the head being the previous Associate Head is recruits can who were recruited know there is still an opportunity to be coached by the coach who spent time and investment in the recruiting process. Robinson has been putting a lot of work as a recruiter domestically and internationally to pull that off

Prior to the changing of head coach, Brown has benefited from having a women’s focused recruiter in Britt Connell who is now the first assistant on the women’s team. Definitely give that woman her props for being on a lot of pool decks and identifying talent (who reach the JO Podium) that fits the university’s academic profile.

Princeton also had Savannah Phillips who played in San Diego and her predecessor Cara Borkovec hailing from Laguna. Hew Helman has also been on a lot of pool decks since he’s been hired to also continue the expectations of being on every pool deck looking for high level players.

Cassie has been on the record about wanting to always draw in Midwest talent in combination with international and California talent. I think it says a lot about her character to recognize talent can come from anywhere.

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Does anyone have an update on UCSB - its been crickets.

Also - does LIU have a team this year - their 2025 roster isn’t up, their 2024 roster was only 11 players and Senior day '24 was 4 players = 7 players for '25.
No mentions of incoming freshman, can’t imagine playing a season iron(wo)man.

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The UCSB website lists Emma Myall as the Interim Head Coach.

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they have a schedule. a few other teams wait till the last second to post their rosters… LMU is not up yet either.

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As WaterPoloShane notes above, Hungary’s Panni Szegedi has decided not to return to UCLA for her sophomore year. Szegedi and Anna Pearson were UCLA’s leading scorers last season. Szegedi was also UCLA’s leading scorer in the NCAA semifinal and championship games, scoring three goals in each game. UCLA will miss Szegedi. Therefore, I give a slight edge to Stanford over UCLA this season.

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Just looked up the Pomona-Pitzer womens’ roster for 2025. It has 31 players with 11 first year players. Curious if this is an effect of the upcoming roster limits in D1 teams and if other non-D1 teams may see a similar increase in numbers as this roster change comes into effect.

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I agree about Szegedi. She was one of the best shooters in the NCAAs last season. With UCLA’s talented centers, their outside shooters are going to get some good looks. Someone is going to have to step up to make up for her loss.

I have no idea how she did not make All-America last year, not even Honorable Mention.

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Szegedi was a glaring omission from last year’s ACWPC All-American teams. If we’re being charitable, I’d chalk it up to voters who weren’t familiar with her game because she was a freshman.

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It just goes to show you how clueless some of the voters are for the different awards. How could anyone have missed her? She was the best field player in the NCAA Tournament!

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From what a current employee told me, while they don’t have strict roster limits, the PP department specifically has been told to limit rosters for the sake of more travel opportunities for all sports to be paid by the department.

It makes sense if you’re trying to have more competitive programs for all of Division III. It’s just hard for water polo because D3 is a smaller field. But the Claremont schools aren’t tuition driven either