Air Force hosts 2015 WWPA Championships
11/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
THIS WEEK: The Air Force Academy will host the 2015 Western Water Polo Association Championships, Friday-Sunday, Nov. 20-22, at the Cadet Natatorium. The winner of the tournament receives the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The 2015 WWPA Tournament is below.
FRIDAY, NOV. 20 (No. 1 seed UC Davis has a bye)
Game 1: No. 2 Loyola Marymount vs No. 7 Cal Baptist, 1:30 pm
Game 2: No. 3 UC San Diego vs No. 6 Santa Clara, 3:15 pm
Game 3: No. 4 Fresno Pacific vs No. 5 Air Force, 5:00 pm
SATURDAY, NOV. 21 (Higher Seeded Losing Team Has Bye Saturday-Advances
to 5th Place Game on Sunday)
Game 4: Two lowest seeded losing teams from Friday, 11:30 am
Game 5: Semi #1 - No. 1 UC Davis vs lowest advancing seeded team, 1:15 pm
Game 6: Semi #2 - Two highest advancing seeds from Friday, 3:00 pm
SUNDAY, NOV. 22 (Loser of Game 4 finishes 7th - no game Sunday)
Game 7: 5th place game: Winner Game 4 vs Highest seeded losing team from Friday, 9:30 am
Game 8: 3rd place game: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 11:15 am
Game 9: Championship game: Winner Game 5 vs Winner of Game 6, 1:00 pm
LIVE ON THE WEB: Every game of the WWPA Tournament, hosted at the Academy, will be video streamed live on GoAirForceFalcons.com. Go to the water polo page and click on the lead story - Tournament Central.
WWPA TEAMS IN THE TOP 20: In the most recent Collegiate Water Polo Association poll (Nov. 18), UC Davis is ninth, Loyola Marymount is 14th, UC San Diego is 16th, Air Force and Santa Clara are tied for 17th and Cal Baptist is 20th.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK: Air Force defeated Chapman (16-15) and Concordia (9-8) in a pair of non-conference road games last weekend. The Falcons have won three straight, dating back to an 11-9 win over No. 15 Santa Clara, Nov. 8. Riley Thomas led the Falcons with six goals and seven steals in the two games last weekend.
TOP SCORERS: Sophomore Riley Thomas leads the team with 39 goals this season. He ranks second on the team with 21 assists and 40 steals. Junior Eric Curia is third on the team with 36 goals and 26 steals. Thomas ranks 18th in the league in goals and 10th in the league in steals.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY: UC San Diego has won the last two WWPA Tournaments and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Air Force won the 2012 tournament and placed fourth in the NCAAs. Loyola Marymount last won the tournament in 2010, ending a run of four straight tournament titles by the Lions. UC Davis, the No. 1 seed this year, last won the tournament in 1997.
