Feb. 14, 2005
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Water Polo Weekly Release
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No. 8 San Diego State Hits the Road for Its Two Conference-Opening Games at USC and UCSB
* Coming off a 2-2 performance at the UCSD Invitational (Feb. 5-6), No. 8 San Diego State will travel north to Los Angeles for its conference-opening game against second-ranked Southern California (4-1; 1-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play) and then head to Santa Barbara for a matchup with ninth-ranked UC Santa Barbara (3-2; 0-1).
This will mark the first time the Aztecs have opened up conference play with two road games since the 2003 season. That year, SDSU lost at both Long Beach State and Southern California. In fact, the only other time the Aztecs started with two games on the road occurred in 2001 and they lost those two as well. Coincidently, both of those squads finished MPSF play at 4-6.
UCSD Invitational Recap
* San Diego State went 2-2 in the annual UCSD Invitational on Feb. 5-6. On the first day of the event, the Aztecs defeated Cal State Bakersfield, 11-4, and UC Davis, 9-5, to claim first place in pool play.
Against Cal State Bakersfield, the Aztecs received four goals from Rachel Serna, three from Ashley Reta, two from Susan Stivers and one apiece from Sara Farris and Ashley McCullum. Goalkeeper Sarah Kilgore made five saves on the day to help secure the victory.
In the second match versus No. 13 UC Davis, SDSU raced out of the gate and took a 5-1 lead after two periods. Kilgore recorded nine saves and got another three goals from Serna to lead the Aztecs to a 9-5 win and a spot in the championship bracket. For the game, SDSU was 5-for-8 in six on five chances.
Against fifth-ranked Long Beach State, the game was tied at 5-5 after three quarters. SDSU received goals from six different players and got six saves from Kilgore. But the Aztecs could not overcome a 1-for-6 performance in six on five opportunities and eventually lost to the 49ers, 7-6.
In the last match of the tourney, SDSU went up against No. 4 Loyola Marymount and trailed early. The Lions took a 3-1 lead after one period and stretched its lead to 7-2 at the midway point. The Aztecs shot 21.7 percent on their way to a total of five goals. LMU ended up defeating the Aztecs, 12-5, and took home the tournament championship.
SDSU in the Polls
* For the third consecutive week, the Aztecs have been ranked eighth nationally in the Feb. 9 edition of the National Collegiate Women's Top 20 poll.
Of the top 20, SDSU will play 14 schools ranked in the weekly poll. So far this season, the Aztecs have gone 1-2 against nationally ranked opposition.
Serna Says Score
* Junior driver Rachel Serna leads the team in scoring through four games of the young 2005 season. So far, Serna has a goal percentage of .500 with her nine goals in 18 attempts.
In 2004, the junior from Coronado tallied just 15 goals in 70 attempts. At this pace, Serna will shatterboth of those marks by mid-season.
In addition to being on pace to break last year's goals scored and attempted marks, Serna has already broke her 2004 total for games started. Last season, she started two as a sophomore and this year has gotten the nod in all four games. In fact, prior to this season, Serna started only four games in her SDSU career.
Series History vs. Southern California
* SDSU holds a 9-18 record all-time versus USC. The 18 losses are tied for the second-most in school history, trailing the 25 defeats to UCLA and knotted with the 18 losses against California.
The Aztecs are currently in the midst of a 17-game losing streak to the Women of Troy dating all the way back to the 1999 season. Prior to that campaign, SDSU dominated Southern California and went 9-1 during that time.
Series History vs. UC Santa Barbara
* Dissimilar to the USC series, SDSU has enjoyed success against UC Santa Barbara. All-time, the Aztecs are 26-8 versus the Gauchos.
SDSU will be looking to extend its four-game winning streak over UCSB. SDSU's last defeat came in overtime during the 2002 season. At the time, the Gauchos were ranked seventh nationally and won 7-6. Despite that loss and the loss in the 2001 finale, SDSU has won 13 of the last 15 meetings.
Scouting the Women of Troy
* The Women of Troy are coming off an 8-6 loss to cross-town rival and number one team in the nation, UCLA, in the championship match of the Stanford Invitational.
Heading into the SDSU game, Southern California has already suffered its first loss in over a year. Last year's team went undefeated (29-0) to claim the 2004 NCAA championship.
The Women of Troy are led by 11th-year head coach Jovan Vavic. In his previous ten coaching seasons, Vavic has two national championships to his credit (`99 and `04) and a career record of 225-90 (.714).
Southern California has over half of its 2004 team back, but highlighting the group is San Diego native and reigning MPSF player of the year Moriah van Norman. The junior already ranks sixth in school history with her 123 goals in only two years under her belt.
Scouting the Gauchos
* After opening up the 2005 season at the UCSD Invitational and posting a 3-1 record, the Gauchos returned home and fell to UC Irvine in their MPSF lidlifter, 8-7, this past weekend.
The Gauchos are led by second-year head coach Danielle Altman. In her first season at the helm, Altman guided UCSB to a 16-16 record, including a 3-7 mark in MPSF play.
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