Women's Water Polo | 2/18/2016 11:45:00 AM

ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst University women's water polo team will welcome five teams to the David M. Hallman III Aquatics Center that opened January 2016. The tournament will begin this Friday, February 19, at the new Erie Cathedral Prep Event Center, located at 501 West 12th Street.

The invite will run through Sunday, February 21, and will feature seven universities from the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).

The tournament will show case Mercyhurst, California State Monterey Bay -- who is making their first ever trip to Erie --Gannon, Siena, St. Francis, Villanova and Washington & Jefferson.

This weekend's round robin tournament will kick off the 2016 season for four teams -- Mercyhurst, Siena, Gannon and W&J --, while St. Francis (0-4), California State Monterey Bay (0-7) and Villanova (3-5) have already seen action.

The event kicks off with Gannon and California State Monterey Bay, playing on Friday at 8:00 p.m.

The Lakers will participate in two games, both Saturday and Sunday. Mercyhurst will begin the day, Saturday, when they play St. Francis (Brooklyn) at 10:00 a.m. and, then, they will return to action at 5:30 p.m. against Cal State Monterey Bay. Sunday, the Lakers will face off against Siena at 10:15 a.m. and Villanova at 3:15 p.m.

For a look at the complete tournament schedule, CLICK HERE.

Check the @Mercyhurstpolo twitter account for updates concerning the tournament.