VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova water polo coach Larry Sanders has announced his team's 2022 schedule that features a February full of tournaments before Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action starts in March.
The Wildcats are coming off of a 2021 campaign that saw it go 8-6, 4-4 in MAAC contests. Much like last season, they open the year with home action, hosting Harvard and Iona on Jan. 29 before Princeton comes to town on Feb. 4.
Four consecutive weeks of tournament action begin Feb. 12-13 as the group heads to the Princeton Tournament where it will face Harvard, Mount St. Mary's and St. Francis (Pa.), marking the first return to the event hosted by the Tigers since 2019. The following two weeks take the 'Cats to Erie, Pa. for the Mercyhurst Tournament Feb. 19-20 and then to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. for the Marist Tournament Feb. 26-27. The Wildcats are a perfect 4-0 in regular season tournaments hosted by Mercyhurst while sitting at 6-2 in Marist tournaments. Sanders' unit heads to California for the Convergence Tournament after that, taking on Cal State Northridge and Biola on March 4 and Santa Clara and Fresno Pacific on March 5. It will be the team's first appearance in the event since 2019.
The MAAC schedule opens at Virginia Military Institute March 19-20 where the Wildcats will face Wagner, VMI and Iona. When playing regular season conference games at VMI, the Wildcats are 6-6 all-time They stay on the road for the rest of the month, playing at LIU, St. Francis (N.Y.), Marist and Siena the weekend of March 26-27.
The team comes back home April 2-3 to host LIU, St. Francis (N.Y.), Siena and Marist. Wager and Iona pay a visit to the Villanova Swim Complex on April 9.
Villanova takes on a home-and-home series with La Salle late this season, heading to Philadelphia on April 10 before hosting the Explorers on April 16. The Wildcats close out the regular season with a home game against VMI on April 17.
The MAAC Championships are set to take place April 23-24, hosted by reigning champion Marist in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. It is a four-team, single-elimination tournament that starts with two semifinals on Saturday that pave the way to championship Sunday. The winner of the championship will receive an automatic qualification bid to the NCAA Championships, hosted by Michigan May 6-8 in Ann Arbor, Mich.