April 29, 2003
SAN DIEGO - Aztec water polo teammates senior utility Amber Prestegard (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison HS) and junior 2-meter Holly Hartzell (Vista, Calif./Fallbrook HS) have been named to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation all-conference second team. The duo helped lead San Diego State to a 21-12 record and its best winning percentage in the past seven seasons (.636) in 2003, as well as a fifth-place finish at the 2003 MPSF Championship Tournament, the team's best showing in four years.
It is the third straight all-MPSF selection for Hartzell, who was named to the second team in 2001 and was an honorable mention pick last year, and the first such honor for Prestegard.
Prestegard rewrote much of the Aztec record book in her four years on the Mesa. She fell just five goals shy of the program's all-time career scoring record due to a broken thumb suffered just prior to the conference championship, but she capped an outstanding career by remarkably scoring her 230th goal in the season-ending win over No. 5 California on Sunday. She finished second on the team with 54 goals this season and is the only Aztec to score at least 50 goals in four straight seasons.
Already the program's career leader in assists entering this season, Prestegard tallied a team-high 36 this season to give her a career total of 116, or 45 more than the next closest Aztec. The March 17 MPSF Player of the Week, Prestegard also stands seventh all-time at SDSU with 117 assists.
Well on her way to becoming the program's most prolific scorer, Hartzell led the Aztecs with 63 goals and a .467 goal percentage in 2003. She has registered at least 63 goals in each of her three years - the only Aztec player ever to score 60 times in three straight seasons - and ranks third all-time at SDSU with 221 scores for her career. She earned MVP honors at the 2003 UC San Diego Arena Invitational for scoring 10 goals in four games.
A two-time All-American, Hartzell is looking for her third straight selection after racking up 52 steals (second on SDSU) to move into fifth all-time at SDSU with 154 career thefts. She also recorded 20 assists this season and is the third-leading Aztec all-time with 69. A 2003 Verizon Academic All-America nominee, Hartzell will likely earn a second straight all-MPSF academic team honor later this year.