Another varsity water polo program has met its end. Sonoma State announced that its women’s program would be discontinued at the end of the 2019-20 scholastic year.
“This was a difficult decision driven in no small part by the new financial realities facing our state, the CSU system and our university,” University President Judy K. Sakaki said in the release.
Water polo is one of three sports at the school that is not funded by the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Its cancellation, along with men’s and women’s tennis, will free nearly $800,000 in funds according to the school. The Seawolves ended the abbreviated 2020 season with a 9-7 record ending in a four-game winning streak. They stood third in the Western Water Polo Association West Region.
Sonoma State’s cancellation comes one day after Urbana University announced that its yet-to-compete varsity women’s program would end as the school shut down its physical campus permanently. There are now 65 active varsity programs in the U.S. Two Illinois schools, Millikin University and Augustana College, will raise the figure to 67 when they begin competing in the 2020-21 scholastic year.
