VISTA, Calif - McKendree University men's water polo was officially announced as one of four schools set to join the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) for the 2023 season, as released by the WWPA league office and commissioner Mitch Carty on Tuesday morning.
The WWPA and McKendree are already a familiar pairing as McKendree women's water polo competes in the same league. The Bearcats are one of four programs joining the association along with Gannon, Mercyhurst, and Salem. Regarding the additions, McCarty said "The WWPA is thrilled for the addition of these four institutions into the men's conference. This realignment expands our footprint and adjusts to the quickly-changing national landscape for men's water polo. It also offers an increased number of student-athletes the opportunity to compete for a conference championship and contend for a national championship. We're looking forward to the fall of 2023 and the future of the conference."
McKendree added both its men's and women's water polo teams in 2017, both being under the direction of head coach
Colleen Lischwe. Lischwe is one of just three women to coach men's collegiate water polo across the nation. She has led the Bearcats to multiple MAWPC regional titles (2018, 2020-21) and back-to-back MAWPC West Division regular season titles as well (2020-21, 2021).
With the addition of the four programs, six total institutions will have both the men's and women's programs competing in the WWPA, including McKendree, Biola, Fresno Pacific, Gannon, Mercyhurst, and Salem. On the men's side, Concordia rounds out the seven-program membership while Cal State East Bay and Cal State Monterey Bay make it eight on the women's side.
