'Roo Women's Water Polo Set for Inaugural National Tournament

SHERMAN, Texas - The No. 4-ranked Austin College women's water polo team will be headed to Claremont, Calif., this weekend to participate in the USA Water Polo Division III Championship, with the top four teams in the nation squaring off for the inaugural Division III women's water polo national championship.

While the 'Roo women's water polo program is only four years old, head coach Mark Lawrence has guided his squad to tremendous early success, making an appearance in the CWPA Division III title game in three of the team's first four years. The only year that Austin College did not reach the conference final was during the 2020 Covid-shortened season. This year, the 'Roos have attained new heights, reaching as high as No. 4 in the national polls and winning a program-best 13 games. The 'Roos have lost just one game against a Division III opponent this season, putting together a 12-1 overall mark against DIII teams while finishing the year at 13-7 overall in the regular season.

This weekend the 'Roos will join host school Pomona-Pitzer, ranked No. 1 in all of Division III, as well as No. 2-ranked Whittier College and No. 9-ranked Augustana. The 'Roos have faced off against Augustana three times this year in CWPA competition, going 3-0 in those contests. Austin College takes on Whittier to open the weekend, with their semifinal game taking place at 4:00 p.m. (Pacific) on the campus of Pomona-Pitzer, with the winner going on to face the winner of the host school and Augustana.

Should the 'Roos defeat Whittier, they'll advance to Austin College's first national championship game appearance since the 1981 Austin College football team, with Sunday's game time set for 12:30 p.m. (Pacific). The third place game is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. (Pacific) on Sunday morning.

The 'Roos will be led by a host of seniors capping off a highly successful four seasons, with multiple All-Americans in Lawrence's first ever women's graduating class. Among those are Sophie Oliver, who started her career at Saturday's opponent, Whittier, and was the 2021 CWPA Division III Player of the Year, as well as Brooke Le, this year's CWPA Division III Player of the Year. Also poised to make big impacts this weekend are standout goalie Valery Piachonkina, who has notched multiple CWPA Defensive Player of the Week and All-Conference honors, as well as scoring machine Lexi Wong and all-around performer Madison Taylor. Lawrence's team features a deep rotation of experienced and talented players, with plenty of scoring and defensive potency coming off the bench as well as rounding out the starting lineup.

All of this weekend's games will be streamed and feature live stats, with those links available on the team's schedule page.