1979 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship
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]
 | |
| Dates | December 1979 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 8 |
| Champions | UC Santa Barbara (1st title) |
| Runners-up | UCLA (6th title game) |
| Third place | Stanford |
| Fourth place | California |
| Matches played | 12 |
| Goals scored | 246 (20.5 per match) |
| Attendance | 2,542 (212 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Scott Schulte, Bucknell (11) |
| Best player | Greg 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
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
- Site: Belmont Plaza Pool, Long Beach, California
| Fifth place | Consolation semifinals | First round | Championship semifinals | Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
| California | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Air Force | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Air Force | 9 | California | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Bucknell | 11 | UCLA | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| UCLA | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bucknell | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bucknell | 9 | UCLA | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Loyola–Chicago | 5 | UC Santa Barbara | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loyola–Chicago | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loyola–Chicago (3OT) | 11 | UC Santa Barbara | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Seventh place | Brown | 10 | Stanford | 9 | Third place | ||||||||||||||||||
| Air Force | 10 | Stanford | 13 | California | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brown | 15 | Brown | 5 | Stanford | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
All-tournament team
- 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
References
- "Men's Water Polo Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved April 10, 2015.