Can you buy tickets to just the semis…Since Girls futures is conveniently on the day of the championship game.
It does not appear that way. All session pass or nothing online. However, on game day with empty seats, maybe single tickets could be had?
swimcoach thank you
looks like single tickets are here:
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Thank you appreciate it!
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So many good games in the league tournaments this season. Hope the NCAAs can match the excitement.
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you are wrong…that is all
Sounds like someone bleeds cardinal red…
I sincerely apologize, it was a one goal game until 1:47 to go. In my book that is a close game.
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Any predictions for this weekend?
Im confused, I felt your comment that the refs were overtly helping UCLA was wrong, nothing to do with a cardnial colored school. And you werent apologizing really…
I’m glad you caught my sarcasm.
??? Very confusing, LOL
Quarterfinals
Stanford over Wagner
Cal over Hawaii
UCLA over Harvard
USC over LMU
Semis:
Stanford over Cal
USC over UCLA
Final: Stanford beats USC in a defensive 1pt. game single digits
My picks are the same as H20rosy’s. I do not think that there will be any upsets. The potential USC vs UCLA semi-final game would be a pick 'em in my opinion.
I will go with Stanford with a 2 goal win over USC in the final. It should be a great game. USC has four elite players in Ausmus, Gazzaniga, Stryker and Yaacobi. If they have great games, USC could certainly pull it out, as they have already shown. As jeff has mentioned times, Stanford will need to get better production our of their centers. Stanford does not have a lot of depth and JT usually goes with his big guns in these types of games, so they can’t afford to get in early foul trouble.
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2026 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Official Bracket | NCAA.com
The NCAA recognized women’s water polo as an official varsity sport during the 2000-01 school year. The first NCAA tournament was held in 2001. Only three schools have won an NCAA women’s Division 1 water polo championship: Stanford (2002, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2025); UCLA (2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2024); and USC (2004, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, and 2021).
Since 2014, USC is the only school other than Stanford to win an NCAA championship in a non-Olympic year. Only three coaches have won an NCAA championship in a non-Olympic year: John Tanner (9), Adam Krikorian (6), and Jovan Vavic (3). Reasonable people can disagree about the significance of the Olympic/non-Olympic year distinction. However, I’m not the only one who would draw these conclusions: (1) Stanford has dominated women’s college water polo since USC fired Jovan Vavic in March 2019 and (2) Stanford has had (and not by a small margin) the strongest collection of American women’s water polo players since Adam Krirkorian resigned from his UCLA coaching position after the 2009 season.
USC played at Stanford’s level during Vavic’s tenure. He was the first women’s coach to recruit a significant number of high-level international players. However, without Vavic, USC has lost its edge in international recruiting. Indeed, in a surprising (at least to me) turn of events, the 2026 Stanford team has a better group of international players than USC, including this year’s top international player (France’s Juliette Dhalluin) and Olympians from two other countries (Canada’s Serena Browne and Australia’s Sienna Greene). Dhalluin transferred to Stanford from Arizona State and Greene transferred from UCLA. It remains to be seen whether Tanner and his eventual successors follow Brian Flacks’s lead by actively recruiting top international players.
With that long-winded introduction, here are my predictions for the 2026 NCAA women’s Division 1 Tournament:
First round
Stanford over Wagner by a lot.
Cal over Hawaii by 2 or 3. Although this should be the most competitive first-round game, I don’t think Hawaii can match Cal’s talent and depth. With Vavic no longer coaching at USC, Cal’s Coralie Simmons has probably become the leading recruiter of international players. What does Cal need to do to win an NCAA championship and join the “Big 3” (Stanford, UCLA, and USC) in a “Big 4”? Follow Pete Cutino’s lead by recruiting a significant percentage of the top players from Cal’s own backyard (the Lamorinda area and 680 corridor). As it is now, most of these top players are going to Stanford, UCLA, or USC (for example, Melissa Seidemann, Jessica Steffens, Maggie Steffens, Kat Klass, Sarah Klass, Jewel Roemer, Lily Palma, Ava Johnson, Katrina Drake, Tali Stryker, Grace Tehaney, and Meghan McAninch).
UCLA over Harvard by a lot. Harvard was a feel-good story this season, winning its second consecutive CWPC tournament behind the inspired play of, among others, sophomore goalie Orli Cooper. Cooper is from Greensboro, North Carolina. The women’s college game will be stronger if we start to see more top players from states other than California.
USC over Loyola Marymount by 6 or 7. LMU might keep this game close for the first quarter.
Semifinals
Stanford over Cal by 2. I give Cal about a 10 percent chance of upsetting Stanford. This is one of Cal’s better teams in recent years and it isn’t one of Stanford’s top teams. Cal has a very good offensive team but will need to play much better on defense to beat Stanford.
UCLA by 1 over USC. This game could go either way. UCLA has an edge at the goalie and center positions; USC has an edge at the attacker position. One of the keys to the game for USC will be to put pressure on UCLA goalie Lauren Steele. Steele has the highest ceiling of any college goalie but she has had a few “off days” when challenged early in games.
Finals
Stanford over UCLA by 1 or 2. I think Stanford, UCLA, and USC could win the tournament. I’m picking Stanford because of their track record, coaching, Jenna Flynn, Juliette Dhalluin, and easier path to the finals than UCLA and USC. In the MPSF championship game between Stanford and USC, Flynn and Dhalluin scored 10 goals on just 14 shots and had 5 assists. Although it’s easier said than done, UCLA or USC needs to find a way to make someone other than Flynn and Dhalluin beat them. I’d press Flynn and Dhalluin with my best perimeter defenders and take my chances with Stanford’s centers. With respect to coaching, Stanford has historically handled various late-game situations better than other schools because John Tanner spends a lot of time in practice working on these situations. Of course, it helps to have players with high water polo IQs, a trait shared by most of Stanford’s great players.
Tournament MVP: Jenna Flynn if Stanford wins, Lauren Steele if UCLA wins, Emily Ausmus if USC wins.
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I agree on the Cal versus Stanford game tomorrow. Cal controlled Hawaii and looked very impressive.
The games went somewhat how I would have expected today, with all of the favorites having easy wins. Cal looked very sharp as did UCLA. I was surprised that LMU held USC to 10 goals, but their offense really struggled. If the FOSH’s stats are right, Tarantino went 4/5 from the field and the rst of the team was 1/23.
I will go with Stanford beating Cal tomorrow 13-10 and USC outlasting UCLA 12-10
Tie game 7-7 at half Cal giving Stanford a game.
Cal may have just sent Stanford a clear message: play more games during the season. 
That was a statement win for the Bears they came ready to execute!
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Wow! What a game by Cal! Congratulations!
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Jeff gave Cal +900. Vegas would have gone bankrupt.