March 1, 2005
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Water Polo Weekly Release
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SDSU Travels to Northern California for Conference Games at Pacific and California
* After taking 11th place at the UCSB Gaucho 24-Team Invitational, the Aztecs make their way north for the third consecutive week to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation games at Pacific on Saturday and California on Sunday. Both games are slated for a noon time start.
SDSU (5-6) is coming off a week in which it faced four nationally-ranked opponents in UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Indiana and Michigan, going 2-2 in those matches. For the weekend, the Aztecs went 3-2 overall, with the other win coming against unranked Marist in the first game of pool play.
Following the two-game trip, SDSU will return home for its first home matches of the year. March 10 will be the first of five games in four days when the Aztecs face UC Irvine. On March 12, SDSU will play No. 1 UCLA and Bucknell and the next day, take on Cal State Northridge and Princeton.
Gaucho Invitational Recap
* SDSU headed back to Santa Barbara for the second straight weekend to participate in the three-day, 24-team Gaucho Invitational.
In pool play, the Aztecs handled Marist, 17-4, on the strength of Rachel Serna's four goals. Besides the junior's contributions, SDSU received goals from 11 other players to setup the showdown with UC Santa Barbara.
In the featured game of the night, the two schools battled and through three quarters, SDSU held a 8-5 advantage. But in the fourth quarter, the Gauchos outscored the Aztecs, 4-1, to push the game into overtime.
It was in the extra session that UCSB found the net to win the game and send SDSU into the second-place grouping.
On day two, the Aztecs faced conference foe No. 16 UC Irvine and disposed of them 10-8. Goalkeeper Sarah Kilgore stopped five shots and Serna added five more goals in a winning effort.
Against sixth-ranked Indiana, SDSU led at the half, but was outscored, 5-2, in the final two stanzas to fall, 7-6. Serna (three), Stacy Werner (two) and Becca Ur all scored for the Aztecs, while Kilgore made nine saves.
In the final game of the tourney, SDSU faced Michigan for 11th place and defeated the 11th-ranked Wolverines, 6-5, in double overtime. Kilgore tallied eight saves and Monica DeRosier scored three goals to pace SDSU.
SDSU in the Polls
* For the fifth week in a row, the Aztecs have been nationally-ranked in the National Collegiate Women's Top 20 poll.
The Aztecs are currently the 10th best team in America, according to the Collegiate Water Polo office and have been ranked as high as seventh nationally.
Of the top 20 teams, SDSU will play 14 schools ranked in the weekly poll. This season, the Aztecs have gone 3-6 against nationally-ranked opposition.
Serna Says Score...
* Junior driver Rachel Serna leads the team in scoring through 11 games of the 2005 season. So far, Serna has a goal percentage of .543 with her 25 goals in 46 attempts and has netted a goal in 10 of 11 games this season.
In 2004, the Coronado native tallied just 15 goals in 70 attempts. For her career, Serna had 23 goals in her two seasons on Montezuma Mesa.
...Werner Does Too
* Sophomore Stacy Werner went into last weekend's Gaucho Invitational having scored only four goals in six games, tied for third most on the team with Elana Cervantes and Becca Ur. But after the tourney, Werner held sole possession of second.
In five games, the Lodi native netted nine goals, including a five-goal effort against UC Santa Barbara. She also scored a pair of goals versus Marist and Indiana.
Scouting the Tigers
* Pacific is coming off a 2-4 showing at the Gaucho Invitational this past weekend. For the season, the Tigers are 7-5 with none of their wins coming against nationally-ranked opponents.
The senior-laden team is led by head coach Ryan Brown, who is in his fourth season at the helm.
Scouting the Golden Bears
* California comes into the San Diego State game boasting an 8-4 record and a No. 7 national ranking. The Golden Bears are coming off a ninth place showing in which they beat two of the same opponents SDSU faced over the weekend.
California defeated Michigan, 10-7, on Saturday to advance to the ninth place game against Indiana. It was there that the Golden Bears avenged an earlier loss to the Hoosiers and beat Indiana, 5-3, to claim ninth.
Notable Notes
* This past weekend, a couple of noteworthy accomplishments took place...
...Elana Cervantes set a single-game SDSU record with her five assists in the loss to UCSB (Feb. 25). Current teammates, Sarah Kilgore and Dominique Delgado, and former players Holly Hartzell and Amber Prestegard, share the honor with the sophomore.
...Delgado moved ahead of Holly Hartzell as the number two all-time assists leader in SDSU history. The senior now has 99 assists and is only 17 behind Prestegard (116) for first all-time.
Here are a couple of things to look for in the coming games...
...With her 19 assists this year, Cervantes is eight shy of ninth place for assists in a season. Casey Finnegan and current assistant coach Sara Weyandt (formerly Sara Hanneman) are tied for ninth with 27.
...Delgado also has 115 steals in her career. She is currently eighth all-time, only two behind Prestegard and 13 shy of Whitney Winlow's 128 (sixth place).
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