The seventh-seeded San Diego State water polo team defeated tenth-seeded UC Irvine, 14-8, before falling to second seeded USC, 8-4, in the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Water Polo Championship at USC's McDonald Swim Complex
Holly Hartzell, Casey Finnegan and Amber Prestegard led the Aztecs over the Anteaters with a hat trick each, while Monica DeRosier, Becky Sensney, Heidi Matsumoto, Ashleigh May and Donna Stivers each added one goal. Senior goalkeeper Heather Stiles came up with 12 saves in the cage.
In the afternoon game against the Trojans of USC, Stiles recorded nine saves, while Finnegan led the Aztecs with two goals. Hartzell and Prestegard each added one.
The Aztecs are now 19-14, 6-7 in MPSF play. They will face either third-seeded UCLA or No. 6 San Jose State Saturday at 1:45 in the semifinal round.
Game 1
1 2 3 4 TotalUCI 2 2 0 4 8SDSU 4 3 4 3 14
Game 2
1 2 3 4 TotalSDSU 0 0 2 2 4USC 0 2 3 3 8