Long Beach State University Athletics
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NCAA Awards Big West Men’s Water Polo Automatic Qualification
9/19/2023 10:39:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
A waiver was granted allowing the champion entry into the NCAA Championships beginning this year, the current 2023 season.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The NCAA has informed the Big West and its six member institutions for Men's Water Polo that the Big West Tournament champion will receive an automatic entry into the 2023 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship.
The Big West is in its first year sponsoring Men's Water Polo, as four legacy programs, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Davis and Long Beach State were joined by UC San Diego and Cal State Fullerton, who recently revived its program, to make up a six-team group, the minimum to maintain conference membership and receive automatic entry into the NCAA Championship.
"I think we always had hope that we would have an automatic entry into the championship in our first year based off the fact that the Big West is an established conference and we already sat out one season in the first year of the Golden Coast Conference," noted Long Beach State Men's Water Polo head coach Gavin Arroyo. "We're delighted that it came to pass and we'll have the opportunity to battle it out in a conference that has a ton of parity with really strong teams."
Long Beach State won the Golden Coast Conference Tournament on two occasions in 2018 and 2021, but will have a new challenge in front of them this coming year.
"It's been a long time since we've been in the same conference as the rest of our sports at Long Beach State, so it really gives us a sense of belonging to be part of the Big West," said Arroyo. "I spoke with Coach Alan Knipe when Men's Volleyball made a similar move a few years ago, and the Big West brings a professional approach to how they host the championship and how they operate from an administrative standpoint. It brings a legitimacy to our sport that we're excited to be returning to.
The Big West is in its first year sponsoring Men's Water Polo, as four legacy programs, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Davis and Long Beach State were joined by UC San Diego and Cal State Fullerton, who recently revived its program, to make up a six-team group, the minimum to maintain conference membership and receive automatic entry into the NCAA Championship.
"I think we always had hope that we would have an automatic entry into the championship in our first year based off the fact that the Big West is an established conference and we already sat out one season in the first year of the Golden Coast Conference," noted Long Beach State Men's Water Polo head coach Gavin Arroyo. "We're delighted that it came to pass and we'll have the opportunity to battle it out in a conference that has a ton of parity with really strong teams."
Long Beach State won the Golden Coast Conference Tournament on two occasions in 2018 and 2021, but will have a new challenge in front of them this coming year.
"It's been a long time since we've been in the same conference as the rest of our sports at Long Beach State, so it really gives us a sense of belonging to be part of the Big West," said Arroyo. "I spoke with Coach Alan Knipe when Men's Volleyball made a similar move a few years ago, and the Big West brings a professional approach to how they host the championship and how they operate from an administrative standpoint. It brings a legitimacy to our sport that we're excited to be returning to.
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