2002 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship
# 2002 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

The 2002 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the 34th annual NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship to determine the national champion of NCAA men's collegiate water polo. Tournament matches were played at the Burns Aquatic Center on the campus of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California during December 2002.

Stanford defeated rival California in the final, 7–6, to win their tenth national title. The Cardinal (24–5) were coached by John Vargas.

The Most Outstanding Player of the tournament was again Tony Azevedo from Stanford. Azevedo, along with six other players, also comprised the All-Tournament Team.

Azevedo, along with Queens College's Michael Vieira, were the tournament's leading scorers, with 5 goals each.

## 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 4 teams were invited to contest this championship.

| Team | Appearance | Previous |
| - | - | - |
| California | 23rd | 1995 |
| UC San Diego | 9th | 2000 |
| Queens College (NY) | 2nd | 1997 |
| Stanford | 25th | 2001 |

## Bracket

* Site: Burns Aquatics Center, Los Angeles, California

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Championship | Championship | Championship |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Stanford | Stanford | 10 | | | |
| UC San Diego | UC San Diego | 5 | | | |
| UC San Diego | UC San Diego | 5 | Stanford | Stanford | 7 |
| | | | California | California | 6 |
| California | California | 14 | California | California | 6 |
| Queens (NY) | Queens (NY) | 6 | Third Place | Third Place | Third Place |
| | | | UC San Diego | UC San Diego | 5 |
| | | | Queens (NY) | Queens (NY) | $6^{OT}$ |

## All-tournament team

* Tony Azevedo, Stanford (Most outstanding player)
* Attila Banhidy, California
* Nick Ellis, Stanford
* Peter Hudnut, Stanford
* Chris Lathrop, California
* Andrew Stoddard, California
* Michael Vieira, Queens (NY)
