ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College water polo team will be the No. 2 seed at this weekend's CWPA Division III Championship, held April 10-12 at Wheaton College's Balfour Natatorium in Norton, Mass. The conference's nine women's water polo teams will compete for the CWPA title as well as the two bids to the Division III Championship, which features the top two teams from the CWPA and the SCIAC. In the first round, the Scots take on seventh-seeded Connecticut College on Friday at 10:30 a.m. Central.

Macalester (12-5), coached by Scott Reed, placed second in the CPWA during the regular season with a 7-1 record, losing only to top-seeded Augustana College, 7-5 on Mar. 14. The Scots are led by senior Jess Palmer-Sammons (Half Moon Bay, Calif./Half Moon Bay), last year's CWPA Most Valuable Player and a two-time All-American. This season she led Macalester with 40 goals and 25 assists for 65 points in 17 games this season. Senior goalkeeper Jayden Kratt (Palo Alto, Calif./Henry M. Gunn) also was an All-CWPA selection last year, and she has made 108 saves in 48 quarters played this season. Other key players for the Scots include sophomore Anna Gaisser (Seattle, Wash./Ingraham), who had 26 goals and 23 assists, and first year Reese Winegar (Hoffman Estates, Ill./William Fremd), who notched 21 goals and 18 assists.

At last year's tournament, held at Augustana, the second-seeded Scots defeated Grove City, 15-3 in the quarterfinals before losing to Washington & Jefferson, 9-6 in the semifinals. Macalester finished third in the tournament for the third year in a row by beating Austin College, 9-8 in overtime in the third-place game.

The winner of the Macalester-Connecticut College game will face either Washington & Jefferson or Grove City on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. The CWPA champion will be determined at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.

All games at the 2026 CWPA Tournament will be streamed live for free at https://www.newmacsportsnetwork.com/wheaton/.

2026 CWPA Tournament - Balfour Natatorium, Wheaton College, Norton, Mass.
(Times are Central Daylight Time)
Friday, April 10
Game 1 - No. 8 PSU-Behrend vs. No. 9 Wheaton, 9:00 a.m.
Game 2 - No. 2 Macalester vs. No. 7 Connecticut College, 10:30 a.m.
Game 3 - No. 3 Washington & Jefferson vs. No. 6 Grove City, 12:00 p.m.
Game 4 - No. 4 Carthage vs. No. 5 Austin, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5 - No. 1 Augustana vs. Game 1 Winner, 3:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 11
Game 6 - Game 3 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 9:00 a.m.
Game 7 - Game 4 Loser vs. Game 1 Loser, 10:30 a.m.
Game 8 - Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner, 12:00 p.m.
Game 9 - Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 1:30 p.m.
Game 10 - Game 7 Loser vs. Game 6 Loser, 3:00 p.m.
Game 11 - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 5 Loser, 4:30 p.m.

Sunday, April 12
Seventh Place - Game 11 Loser vs. Game 10 Winner, 7:00 a.m. (Seventh place)
Fifth Place - Game 11 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 8:30 a.m. (Fifth place)
Third Place - Game 9 Loser vs. Game 8 Loser, 10:00 a.m. (Third place)
Championship - Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, 11:30 a.m. (Championship)