MWPA Announces Week 4 Boys Top Ten Rankings

The Michigan Water Polo Association (MWPA) has released their Week 4 Boys Top Ten rankings. Check out the breakdown of each squad below.

#1 Hudsonville Eagles

The Eagles were again idle this week, but the respect for the defending state champions remained strong. Though the sample size is small for Josh Ahrendt's Eagles, it's not short on pedigree. The Eagles opened their season late, and dropped current number three Rockford by 10 goals, beat current number five ranked Groves by 12 and in their third game of the day, topped current number four Ann Arbor Pioneer by four. They're expected to be back in action against number six ranked Grand Haven Friday night.

#2 Dexter Dreadnaughts

How bout them Dreads? They played just once this week but it was a big one. A road game at Hill Pool, and the Dreadnaughts sunk then number three ranked Ann Arbor Pioneer (who had beaten them 7-6 on April 9). Now that the series is 1-1, Brian Semple's Dreadnaughts get the Ann Arbor slate this weekend, playing Huron and Skyline, which sandwiches a rematch for the District Seed game against Ann Arbor Pioneer.

#3 Rockford Rams

The Rams remain high in the polls as they continue to win, win, and win some more. Craig Peterman's Rams went 3-0 this week, topping West Ottawa in what turned into a close game, before turning around and taking out Zeeland and #10 Okemos two days later in a tri-event. Though scores seem to be slightly tightening on Rockford for teams playing them a second time, the Rams still are doing their part and winning them.

#4 Ann Arbor Pioneer Pioneers

It's kind of hard to fault the Pioneers, the only games they've lost so far this year have come at the hands of #1, #2 and #3. Yep, not too shabby for Don Packard's Pioneers. They lost at home to Dexter this past week but get a shot at revenge when they draw the Dreads for the regular season game with actual postseason implications, The District Seed. Circle May 8 on your calendars, it's sure to be a good one.

#5 Birmingham Groves Gators

The Gators are absolutely taking care of business right now. It'd be easy to look at their overall W-L and ask why they're here? Well all seven losses are to top ten teams and a lot have been nailbiters. Groves toppled cross-town rival and then ninth ranked Seaholm on Monday for the District seed win, then doubled up then #7 Ann Arbor Skyline. Not good enough for you? Bob Sala took the Gators west and unseated #5 Grand Haven 5-2 and lost a narrow one 4-3 to the piping hot (and now seventh ranked) East Grand Rapids Pioneers.

#6 Grand Haven Buccaneers

The Buccaneers were busy this week playing five times. They went 4-1, hard to fault them for anything. Their only loss game to the team that sat in this spot in the top ten last week (Birmingham Groves), but they topped now #7 East Grand Rapids in their early week meeting. Bill Hamm's Buccaneers have been interestingly been able to compete closely with teams in front of them and mostly beat the teams behind them in polling, they've ranged between 5-6 all season in the rankings.

#7 East Grand Rapids Pioneers

Raheem Brown kept his scorching hot Pioneer squad active this week. They topped current #10 Okemos by five, Zeeland by 10, current #5 Birmingham Groves but fell to one of their stumbling blocks in #6 Grand Haven to cap what was a really good week. The Pioneers get another shot at Grand Haven this week in their own pool before wrapping District play with #10 Okemos and #3 Rockford.

#8 Ann Arbor Skyline Eagles

The Eagles fall back one spot this week but really, it's hard to knock what they did. They fell to current #5 Birmingham Groves who has been on fire of late in their only action. The next several days are busy for Ashley Hower's Eagles as they get set to travel to #4 Ann Arbor Pioneer and later in the week, host the District seed tournament where they cap District play with a date with the #2 ranked Dexter Dreadnaughts.

#9 Grand Blanc Bobcats

*Grand Blanc has entered the Groupchat* Hello old friends! Good to see you! Dan Command's Bobcats did some excellent work over the last two weeks to line themselves up to be in the top ten again. They topped #9 Birmingham Seaholm twice in five days (9-5 and 13-9) and battled to a one-goal loss with current #5 Birmingham Groves at the District seed tournament last week. Their exploits have not gone unnoticed and the Bobcats are back in the top ten for the first time this season.

#10 Okemos Chiefs

Well the Chiefs basically started their season on April 24 and have played eight game since that day. They topped Ann Arbor Huron and Zeeland this week, fell to then #2 Rockford and #8 East Grand Rapids, but also had a thrilling 14-13 shootout win over Holt/East Lansing at Huron. Greg Kohler's Chiefs continue to build their resume as they head for a pivotal district seed weekend where they get rematches with East Grand Rapids and Holt/East Lansing.

On the Line: Holt/East Lansing, Birmingham Seaholm, Ann Arbor Huron

What is "On The Line?": The first three teams outside the MWPA Poll in terms of percentage points - listed for context.

Understanding the Poll: The poll, open to all MWPA Head Coaches, is ranked via a point-percentage scoring model. The points column is percentage of points scored by voters against the maximum total, which is based on number of voters. The period that would signify percentage has been dropped off the beginning of each number.

Unanimous first place ranking nets a score of 1,000 points.

Coaches vote weekly during the season. Polls will be updated Monday's during the mid day. Inquiries on the poll can be directed to the chat feature on the MWPA website. Answering times may vary.