April 3, 2001
The No. 8 San Diego State women's water polo team (14-9, 4-4 MPSF) will play at No. 3 USC (17-3, 6-2 MPSF), Saturday, April 7 at 12 p.m. The Aztecs hold a 9-7 all-time advantage over the Trojans. SDSU fell to USC, 10-8, in their last meeting (April 21, 2000). The two teams have played 11 mutual opponents this season. The Aztecs are 9-6 versus those opponents while USC is 13-3. The Trojans have recorded their only losses of the season vs. No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 California.
Catching Up
San Diego State wrapped up its home season this past weekend, recording losses against No. 1 Stanford and No. 5 San Jose State.
SDSU fell to No. 1 Stanford, 12-5, March 30 at Bud Kearns Pool in Balboa Park. Stanford took the momentum early after out scoring the Aztecs 5-1 in the first quarter. Sophomore Amber Prestegard of San Diego State scored the only two Aztec goals in the first half. Kelly Falcone added back-to-back goals for the Aztecs in the third quarter and Holly Hartzell scored the SDSU's final goal in the fourth quarter. Aztec freshman Ashley Zabel recorded eight goalie saves and junior goalkeeper Heather Stiles had four.
San Diego State dropped its final home game of the season to No. 5 San Jose State, 7-4, March 31 at Bud Kearns Pool. The Aztecs were led by Prestegard and sophomore Jackie Lopez, each scoring two goals. Zabel had eight saves in the goal.
Hartzell Breaks Into The Record Books
After only 23 games as an Aztec, Hartzell has already worked herself into the SDSU record books. She leads the team in scoring with 60 goals this season, placing her sixth in scoring on SDSU's single-season record list. This is one above Olympian Heather Moody, who scored 59 goals in 1996. Her 60 goals also put her ninth on the career goals list.
Hartzell is a member of the USA Junior National Team, a gold medalist at the 2000 Junior Pan Am Games and the 2000 CIF Player of the Year (Fallbrook HS). She is also the only Aztec to receive MPSF Mikasa Player of the Week honors this season (3/20).
Hartzell has led the Aztecs in scoring in nine of the last 11 games. She has also scored four or more goals in a game nine times this season.
Prestegard Maintains Pace
Sophomore Amber Prestegard broke into the record books after her freshman season and is working her way to the top in both the goals and assists categories. After just one season she is seventh on SDSU's list of season leaders in goals with 58 and is already the fifth career leader in goals with 104. Prestegard also ranks fourth in a season for assists with her 26 thus far this year. She also ranks ninth in single-season assists with 20 in 2000 and fourth among career leaders with 46. Prestegard is second on the team in scoring this season with 46 goals, first in assists with 26, and second in steals with 29.
Looking Ahead
After USC the Aztecs have just more events scheduled for the regular season. SDSU will compete at the 12-team Long Beach State Invitational, April 13-14, and will wrap up the season with its final MPSF game at Hawaii, Sunday, April 22, at 6:30 p.m. The MPSF Championships will be held April 27-29 in Honolulu.