1979 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

Summary

The 1979 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the 11th annual NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship to determine the national champion of NCAA men's college water polo. Tournament matches were played at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, California during December 1979.[1]

1979 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship
Tournament details
DatesDecember 1979
Teams8
Final positions
ChampionsUC Santa Barbara (1st title)
Runner-upUCLA (6th title game)
Third placeStanford
Fourth placeCalifornia
Tournament statistics
Matches played12
Goals scored246 (20.5 per match)
Attendance2,542 (212 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)Scott Schulte, Bucknell (11)
Best playerGreg Boyer, UCSB
← 1978
1980 →

UC Santa Barbara defeated UCLA in the final, 11–3, to win their first national title.

Greg Boyer from UC Santa Barbara was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. An All-Tournament Team, consisting of seven players, was also named. For the third consecutive year, the tournament's leading scorer was Scott Schulte from Bucknell (11 goals).

Qualification edit

Since there has only ever been one single national championship for water polo, all NCAA men's water polo programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 8 teams were invited to contest this championship.

Team Appearance Previous
Air Force 3rd 1978
Brown 2nd 1977
Bucknell 3rd 1978
California 7th 1978
Loyola–Chicago 5th 1978
Stanford 7th 1978
UCLA 9th 1976
UC Santa Barbara 7th 1976

Bracket edit

Fifth placeConsolation semifinalsFirst roundChampionship semifinalsChampionship
California19
Air Force7
Air Force9California9
Bucknell11UCLA10
UCLA17
Bucknell7
Bucknell9UCLA3
Loyola–Chicago5UC Santa Barbara11
UC Santa Barbara21
Loyola–Chicago4
Seventh placeLoyola–Chicago (3OT)11UC Santa Barbara10Third place
Brown10Stanford9
Air Force10Stanford13California10
Brown15Brown5Stanford11

All-tournament team edit

  • Greg Boyer, UC Santa Barbara (Most outstanding player)
  • John Dobrott, UC Santa Barbara
  • Randy Kalbus, Stanford
  • Kevin Robertson, California
  • Rick Sherburne, UCLA
  • Carlos Steffens, California
  • Craig Wilson, UC Santa Barbara

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Men's Water Polo Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved April 10, 2015.