SANTA CLARA, Calif. – With a 10-6 league record, the Santa Clara University women's water polo team earned the third seed in the upcoming 2011 Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Women's Championships, at Chabot Community College, Friday, Apr. 29 – Sunday, May 1.

The Broncos will play the league's sixth-seed, Sonoma State, at 12 noon Friday, April 29. SCU is 3-0 against Sonoma State this season. The winner will move on to play the winner of the UC San Diego-Cal State Bakersfield game in the semifinals.

"We have really emphasized playing well in conference games and finished strong last week at Bakersfield," said Santa Clara head coach Keith Wilbur, who is preparing his team for Senior Day, SCU's regular season finale Saturday against UC Davis. "The team has worked hard all year to earn a top seed and they have put themselves in a good spot. Now our goal is to do something with it."

Loyola Marymount, who finished the regular season a perfect 11-0 against fellow WWPA foes, has been tabbed the top seed. Following LMU will be UC San Diego with the No. 2 seed. The Tritons went 9-1 against WWPA opponents and will play San Diego State on Friday, April 22, in their regular season finale.

Rounding out the top-five seeds is Colorado State at number four and host Cal State East Bay at number five. Colorado State earned a pair of big conference wins last weekend to earn their highest seed in program history. They wrapped up their regular season at 11-15 overall and 4-6 against the WWPA. Cal State East Bay is also finished, and enters the tournament at 19-13 overall and 9-6 against the WWPA.

The rest of the 2011 seedings are No. 6 Sonoma State, No. 7 Cal State Bakersfield, No. 8 Cal State Monterey Bay and No. 9 Cal State San Bernardino. Sonoma plays Pacific on Saturday, while the rest are finished for the season.

The tournament will begin at 9:00 a.m., Friday, April 29 when Cal State Monterey Bay (15-18, 4-6) takes on Cal State San Bernardino (8-30, 1-12) in the championship play-in game. The winner will take on No. 1 LMU (23-8, 11-0) in Game No. 5 at 3:00 p.m.

The second game of the day will feature the four-five match-up between the Rams (11-15, 4-6) and the host Pioneers (19-13, 9-6) at 10:30 a.m. Game three will pit No. 3 Santa Clara (13-17, 10-5) against No. 6 Sonoma State (8-26, 3-9) at 12 noon. Game Four will feature the second-seed Tritons (14-17, 9-1) taking on Cal State Bakersfield (8-28, 4-9) at 1:30 p.m.

The tournament will run through Sunday, May 1 with the championship game taking place at 1:30 p.m. The winner earns the automatic bid the National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship hosted by Michigan, May 13-15, 2010.

2011 WWPA Women's Championship Seedings:
1.  LMU
2.  UC San Diego
3.  Santa Clara
4.  Colorado State
5.  Cal State East Bay
6.  Sonoma State
7.  Cal State Bakersfield
8.  Cal State Monterey Bay
9.  Cal State San Bernardino

2011 WWPA Women's Championships  
Hosted by Cal State East Bay  
Chabot Community College (25555 Hesperian Blvd., Hayward, CA 94545)  
April 29 - May 1, 2011  
   
Friday, April 29  
Game – Time -- Teams  
Game 01 - 9:00 am -- No. 8 CS Monterey Bay vs. No. 9 CS San Bernardino  
Game 02 - 10:30 pm -- No. 4 Colorado St. vs. No. 5 CS East Bay   
Game 03 - 12:00 pm -- No. 3 Santa Clara vs. No. 6 Sonoma St.  
Game 04 - 1:30 pm -- No. 2  UC San Diego vs. No. 7 CS Bakersfield  
Game 05 - 3:00 pm -- No. 1 LMU vs. Winner Game 1  
   
Saturday, April 30  
Game 06 - 9:00 am -- Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 1  (Consolation play-in)  
Game 07 - 10:30 pm -- Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 3  (Semifinals)  
Game 08 - 12:00 pm -- Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 2  (Semifinals)  
Game 09 - 1:30 pm -- Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 5  (Consolation)  
Game 10 - 3:00 pm -- Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 6  (Consolation)  
   
Sunday, May 1  
Game 11 - 9:00 am -- Seventh Place: Loser Game 9 vs. Loser Game 10    
Game 12 - 10:30 pm -- Fifth Place: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10  
Game 13 - 12:00 pm -- Third Place: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8  
Game 14 - 1:30 pm -- Championship: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8  
   
Note: Winner earns automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.  
Higher seeded teams in all games wear DARK caps.  
Lower seeded teams in all games wear WHITE caps.  
   
Follow the championships online at www.TheWWPA.com.