April 28, 2004
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SAN DIEGO - The fourth-ranked San Diego State women's water polo team competes this weekend in the 2004 Moutain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Tournament. The Aztecs (23-7 overall/8-3 MPSF) earned the #4 seed and a first-round bye and will face the winner of #5 Long Beach State-#12 Pacific at 7:15 pm in the final game on Friday, April 30, at Los Alamitos Training Center. The winner of the match will advance to the tournament semifinals and will play on Sat., May 1, at 5 pm. The loser will play in the consolation bracket at 1:30 pm on Sat. Regardless of the outcome of the the first game, SDSU is guaranteed three contests, one each day, as each position in the final conference standings will be decided. For a full schedule of the tournament see page 3.
The MPSF Field: At A Glance
* The No. 4-ranked Aztecs placed fourth in the MPSF regular season with an 8-3 mark, the most conference wins and best conference winning percentage in school history. SDSU is 25-7 overall marking the most regular season wins in school history, the second-most wins for SDSU overall and the most victories by any team in the nation this season. The Aztecs were 24-1 on the year against lower-ranked teams, but just 1-6 against teams ranked in the top four.
* The Aztecs will most likely face host school Long Beach State in their first matchup of the tournament. LBSU, the #5 seed, is 19-7 on the year and finished MPSF play with a 6-5 mark while Pacific has not won a conference matchup in over two years after going 0-11 this season and 4-27 overall. LBSU held a 2-1 advantage over the Aztecs in head-to-head matchups this season. The 49ers won the first two meetings by a combined score of 13-4, but SDSU earned the win in MPSF action, 10-9. Angelica Garcia leads LBSU with 49 goals on the season, while Bri Hawkins has started every game in the cage and posted a 4.8 goals against average.
* USC enters the tournament with a perfect 24-0 record, ranked No. 1 in the country and are the top seed in the field. USC will play either #8 San Jose State (14-15/4-7) or #9 UC Santa Barbara (14-14/4-7) in its first game of the tournament. The winner of the quarterfinal matchup will face the winner of SDSU's quarterfinal in the first semifinal on Saturday, beginning at 5 pm. The Women of Troy have handed the Aztecs two losses this year, including its only home loss of the season, an 8-3 setback on April 9. USC also eliminated SDSU from the 2003 MPSF tournament, an 11-5 loss in the second round. Moriah Van Norman and Brittany Haynes lead USC with 53 and 47 goals, respectively, while goalkeeper Kelly Graff leads the MPSF with 8.86 saves per game.
* The other side of the bracket features #2 Stanford and #3 UCLA. Stanford has posted an 18-3 record overall and 10-1 mark in MPSF play, with the only losses of the season coming to USC. The Cardinal are the defending champion of the tournament, and have won three MPSF titles overall. Freshman goalkeeper Meredith McColl leads the conference with a 4.0 goals against average. As a team, the Cardinal are third in scoring, averaging 7.95 goals per game, but they use a balanced attack as their leading scorer, Wendy Watkins, has only 26 goals.
* The only school to win more conference championships than Stanford is UCLA, who has won four. The Bruins are 19-4 on the season and 9-2 in conference play. UCLA is the defending NCAA national champions but have a team consisting of only freshman and sophomores. The Bruins are the second leading defensive team in the MPSF allowing only 4.67 goals per game and are led by freshman goalkeeper Emily Feher. Kristina Kunkel is UCLA's top offensive threat with 38 goals.
* #6 Cal (14-11, 5-6) is the only other team in the league that has defeated the Aztecs this season. However, SDSU was 2-1 against the Bears and won the MPSF matchup.
SDSU In The MPSF Tourney
* Since taking second in the initial MPSF Tournament in 1996, the Aztecs have finished no better than fourth in the last seven championships. SDSU placed fifth at last year's tournament as the seventh seed after posting a 3-1 record. In both 2001 and 2002, the Aztecs finished seventh going 2-1.
* Other than 1996, the only other time SDSU advanced to the winner's bracket in the MPSF was 1998 when the Aztecs fell to Cal and took fourth place. SDSU's MPSF tournament experience has ended with a win five out of the six times it was kept out of the winner's bracket and the Aztecs have never finished worse than seventh.
Last Year's MPSF Championship
*SDSU placed fifth at the 2003 MPSF Championship, its best finish since 1998. The Aztecs opened with a 9-3 win over #10 UC Irvine as Casey Finnegan and Holly Hartzell both recorded hat tricks. Later in the day, SDSU was eliminated from title contention after an 11-5 loss to #2 USC.
* The Aztecs rebounded for an 8-7 win over #6 Hawai'i on the second day of competition. Then-junior Sandy Onweller tied a season-high with three goals to lead SDSU to the win.
* The Aztecs finished the season with a 5-2 win over #5 Cal, a team that had defeated SDSU in two close contests earlier in the year. Ashley Zabel made 11 saves in goal, while allowing a season-low two scores.
* For the tournament, Onweller scored in three of the four games and totaled five scores and Hartzell also posted five to lead the offense. Zabel started all four matches in net and recorded 32 saves in the tournament.
Last Time Out: Aztecs Close Out Regular Season, Send Out Seniors With Two Victories
* It's only fitting that the seniors led the way in their final homestand as the combination of seniors Sandy Onweller, Holly Hartzell, and Chelsy Smith scored 13 of the Aztecs' 22 goals on Saturday to lead SDSU to victories over Cal Baptist and Cal State Northridge.
* The Aztecs opened with an 11-2 victory over Cal Baptist as Onweller and freshman Elana Cervantes both posted hat tricks. It was a season high for Cervantes. Hartzell chipped in with a goal and four assists. Freshman Sarah Kilgore started in the cage and made an SDSU season-high 16 saves.
* The matchup with Cal State Northridge was more of the same as the Aztecs were never threatened, jumping out to a 9-1 lead midway through the third quarter on their way to an 11-4 win. Hartzell and Smith both scored three goals, while Ashley Zabel and Sara Daseler split time in the net and combined for seven saves.
* Onweller led SDSU with five goals on the day, while Hartzell and Smith both scored four. Hartzell also tallied six assists on the day.
* Before the day's final game, the Aztecs honored their seven seniors - Sara Daseler, co-captain Hartzell, Kristin Moore, co-captain Onweller, Smith, Susan Stivers and Ashley Zabel.
Delgado Sets Assist Record
* Junior Dominique Delgado recorded four assists over the weekend to break SDSU's single-season record with 44. Delgado eclipses Amber Prestegard's mark of 43, set in 2001. She has tallied an assist in 23 of 30 games this season, including 15 games with multiple assists.
* Delgado is also in third place on SDSU's career assist chart with 85. She is closing in on Hartzell for second place all-time and is currently six behind her teammate. Delgado will have next season to attempt to match Prestegard's 116 assists in a career.
* Delgado has excelled the past two weeks as she has posted eight goals, 11 assists and 12 steals in the last eight Aztec games. In addition, Delagado has scored nine goals in her last eight outings after posting only four scores in the her first 21 games.
* Delgado has registered a career-high 38 steals this season to give her 102 during her three years, which already ranks 10th on the career list. With five more steals Delgado will move into eighth place on the all-time list.
Hartzell Sets The Standard
* Senior Holly Hartzell has set the standard for excellence in SDSU water polo over her four seasons. Hartzell has led the squad in scoring all four seasons and will leave SDSU as the only player to rank in the top three in career goals, assists, and steals.
* Hartzell will also leave SDSU as the all-time leading scorer after breaking the record at the UC Davis tournament earlier in the year. Hartzell has 274 goals in her career, 39 more than the old mark. She also leads the Aztecs with 53 goals this season. She is already the first Aztec to post three 60-goal seasons and needs only seven more to hit the mark in all four years at SDSU.
* Hartzell is not only an offensive threat but also leads the 2004 Aztecs with 50 steals. She is third in career steals with 204 and needs 16 more to move into second place.
* Hartzell was awarded MPSF player of the week honors on Feb. 24 for posting 12 goals at the UC Davis tournament and breaking the scoring record.
* Hartzell ranks second in career assists with 91 after tallying 22 this season.
Onweller Scoring Big
* Senior Sandy Onweller has recorded a career high 52 goals this season. Onweller is looking to become the seventh Aztec with a 60-goal season. She also is second on the squad with 28 assists.
* Onweller was named the MPSF player of the week on March 15 after her eight goals propelled the Aztecs to four wins, including victories over No. 6 Cal and No. 4 Long Beach State.
Zabel is Able
* Ashley Zabel has post-season experience as she has led SDSU in three of her four conference tournaments. Zabel started all four games last season and recorded 32 saves, including 11 in the Aztecs' 5-2 win over Cal to finish the year. She also started two games in 2001 and played in all three, making 30 saves as SDSU went 2-1 to take seventh place.
* Zabel has made 136 saves this season and is second in the MPSF with a 4.26 goals against average. Zabel ranks second on SDSU's all-time saves list with 525 and leads SDSU goalkeepers this season with 23 games played and 22 starts.