Georgetown men’s club water polo claimed its second consecutive Atlantic Division championship by defeating North Carolina State, 14-11, in Sunday’s title game at Villanova University. By winning the tournament, Georgetown clinches an automatic berth in the National Collegiate Club Championship.
The Hoyas, ranked 18th in the nation, were the No. 1 seed at the Atlantic Division Championships by virtue of their perfect 8-0 record entering the tournament. Since becoming the first back-to-back champion in the Atlantic Division’s brief history, Georgetown’s season record now stands at 11-0.
Georgetown won both of its Saturday games in convincing fashion. The Hoyas first defeated the fifth-seeded University of Richmond 19-13. The Spiders were not to be taken lightly, having won the Atlantic Division Championship in 2000 and reaching the title game in 2001 only to lose to Georgetown, 7-6. This year, Richmond finished the tournament in fourth place.
In its next game, Georgetown trounced fourth-seeded James adison University, 23-6. While the Dukes later lost to Richmond, Georgetown moved on to play second-seeded NC State for the championship.
The Hoyas faced a formidable opponent in the Wolfpack, whose 6-2 record put them in second place behind Georgetown in the Atlantic division. They easily advanced to the title game by defeating East Carolina University, 5-0, and University of Virginia, 12-7. The Wolfpack, whose only two losses during the regular season came against Georgetown, could not deny the Hoyas their championship
As Atlantic Division champion, Georgetown receives an automatic bid to the National Collegiate Championships to be held Nov. 8 to Nov. 10. Because seeding for the championships is based on divisional results from the previous year, Georgetown will be the No. 11 seed in the tournament out of 16 teams. In their opening game the Hoyas will face the sixth-seeded Northwest Division champion, who will be decided in the division’s championship, Oct. 26 and 27. Oregon State University is the number one seed, but second-seeded University of Washington is ranked ninth nationally.
