March 9, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
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SAN DIEGO STATE KICKS OFF LONG ROAD STRETCH THIS WEEKEND IN SANTA BARBARA
- Fresh off of a home split in the new Aztec Aquaplex last weekend, the eighth-ranked San Diego State women's water polo team (8-4, 1-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) embarks on its longest road swing of the season on Saturday when it travels north to compete in the UCSB Mini-Tournament, March 10, in Santa Barbara, Calif. The Aztecs hit the pool for two games tomorrow when they square off against MPSF rival UC Santa Barbara, followed by a non-conference tilt with eastern foe Marist. SDSU's clash with the Gauchos is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., while their showdown with the Red Foxes is slated to get underway at 2 p.m.
SDSU christened its sparkling new on-campus facility, March 2-3, with a pair of games against conference adversaries Stanford and San Jose State. The Aztecs hung tough with the top-ranked Cardinal last Friday before the visitors pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 14-8 victory. The following day against the Spartans, SDSU broke open a tight 4-3 contest with five goals in the third quarter en route to an 11-9 upset of No. 6 SJSU. The Scarlet and Black also held its annual exhibition game last Saturday as the SDSU Alumni defeated the current squad, 13-9, in a dramatic overtime shootout.
After Saturday's action, the Aztecs will remain road warriors for four additional matches over the ensuing 12 days, beginning with a visit to No. 4 California on Saturday, March 17.
A LOOK AT UC SANTA BARBARA AND MARIST
- The Gauchos (7-8, 1-2 MPSF) enter this weekend's action having lost four of their last five. In its last outing on Sunday, March 4, UCSB jumped out to a 3-1 lead against fourth-ranked Californa before falling, 10-7, on the road. The Gauchos are led by senior Sarah Kovach, who leads the team with 21 goals, followed by freshman Christie Clark with 17 scores. In goal for UCSB is junior Jenny Gonzales, whose 96 saves is 11th in the MPSF. The Gauchos have held on to their No. 12 ranking for the past several weeks and are currently tied for seventh in the MPSF along with SDSU, Arizona State and San Jose State. Prior to Saturday's showdown with the Aztecs, UCSB will take on Marist in a Friday afternoon contest.
Meanwhile, the Red Foxes (9-6) arrive in the Golden State as the top team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, prevailing in four out of their last six games. At the ECAC Water Polo Tournament in Cambridge, Mass., last weekend, Marist took two of three matches, downing Slippery Rock and Wagner after an opening loss to Maryland. Sophomore Katelin McCahill leads the Red Foxes with 29 goals after being named first team All-MAAC in her freshman season. Junior Elizabeth Davis has been dominating in front of the cage for the Red Foxes, as her 134 saves ranks sixth in the country and her 10.7 saves per game is tied for fourth nationally.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE GAUCHOS
- San Diego State has squared off against UC Santa Barbara on 41 occassions since 1995, the most ever against one opponent in program history, followed by UC San Diego (35) and USC (32). The Aztecs hold a 31-10 lead in the series, including a 2-0 mark this season. In the first encounter on Feb. 10, SDSU overcame a 4-1 first-quarter deficit as Jenna Schuster scored with 55 seconds remaining to give the Scarlet and Black a dramatic 8-7 triumph on the first day of the UCSD Triton Invitational. Two weeks later at the UC Irvine Invite, Erinn Greenwood's hat trick ignited the Aztec offense, while the defense limited the Gauchos to a pair of second-half goals in an 8-5 win at the Corona del Mar High School pool in Newport Beach.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE RED FOXES
- Unlike SDSU's long-running history with UCSB, the Scarlet and Black has engaged Marist in only one previous meeting, as Aztecs routed the Poughkeepsie, N.Y, school, 17-4, in the first game of the 2005 UCSB Invitational. Stacy Werner dented the scoreboard twice in that contest, while Elana Cervantes and Becca Ur each added a goal in the blowout victory.
WERNER CLIMBING THE CHARTS
- Stacy Werner is enjoying another productive season as the Aztec senior leads the team with 24 goals and 31 steals and is second with 16 assists. As a result of her efforts this year, Werner has been steadily working her way up the Aztecs' all-time lists in the three aforementioned categories. With her four tallies against San Jose State last Saturday, the Lodi, Calif., native moved into ninth place in career scoring at San Diego State with 106 goals. In that contest, Werner also leaped past Sara Hanneman into fourth place with 185 career steals and now ranks fifth in SDSU history with 82 career assists, eclipsing Casey Finnegan's total of 71.
CERVANTES ALSO LENDS A HAND
- Senior co-captain Elana Cervantes also achieved a career milestone this year when she surpassed Dominique Delgado in the season opener against Hartwick to become SDSU's all-time leader in assists. The Davis, Calif., native has since added to her total and now has 142 career assists, including a team-leading 17 this season.
WHAT SOPHOMORE JINX?
- The sophomore trio of Anna Gonzales, Erinn Greenwood and Jenna Schuster has provided much of the SDSU scoring punch thus far in 2007, accounting for just over half of the Aztecs' 105 goals with 53. Gonzales is second on the team with 23 goals and is the only San Diego State player to score in all 12 games this season. The Fresno, Calif., native has recorded six mulitple-goal games, including a season-high four tallies against Santa Clara on Feb. 24. Gonzales has also contributed on the defensive side with 14 steals.
Greenwood, meanwhile, has five multiple-goal games to her credit, which is two more than her total for the entire 2006 season. The Sanger, Calif., product leads the squad with 35 ejections drawn, is second with a .457 shooting percentage (16-for-35) and third with 16 goals and 11 assists.
Completing the triumvirate is Schuster, who is second on the team with 23 steals and third with a .438 shooting percentage and 18 ejections drawn.
KILGORE WAS HERE
- Goalkeeper Sarah Kilgore is in the midst of another solid season, amassing 117 saves in 12 games, which is ranked ninth in the nation and second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Her 17 stops against Hawai'i on Feb. 16 tied her collegiate best established last year on April 22 at Arizona State. With her effort, the Aztec senior has recorded double-digit saves in seven games already this year and is well on pace to eclipse her total of 10 set in 2006. Her 10 stops against Hartwick on Feb. 8 vaulted her into second place on the Aztecs' all-time career saves list, surpassing Ashley Zabel. With her 653 career stops, Kilgore trails only Curran Teigen, who holds the San Diego State record with 904 career saves.
CRAZY EIGHTS
- The Aztecs have scored at least eight goals in all eight of their wins thus far in 2007 and have recorded that exact total in four of those victories. Conversely, San Diego State has given up at least eight goals in all four of its defeats this season, while opponents have matched that precise figure in two of those losses. Coincidentally, the Aztecs returned eight letterwinners this year and are ranked eighth in the country in this week's collegiate poll!
CRAWFORD AT THE CONTROLS
- Head coach Carin Crawford is in her ninth year at the helm of the San Diego State women's water polo team. In each of her eight seasons on Montezuma Mesa, San Diego State has never finished below 11th place in the final national rankings. During her tenure, the Aztecs have garnered 11 All-America awards and claimed all-MPSF accolades on 13 occasions. Crawford's players have also earned 27 all-MPSF academic awards, as well as 27 AWPCA all-academic honors.
THE AZTEC AQUAPLEX-SAN DIEGO STATE'S HOME SWEET HOME
- With its prime location, the Aztec Aquaplex is one the final pieces of the puzzle for the San Diego State athletic department. The new facility is situated on the west side of campus nestled between San Diego State Softball Stadium and Aztec Tennis Center. The 112,000 square-foot complex was built a cost of $12 million and features an Olympic-sized pool for competitive swimming and diving, a 7,300 square-foot recreation pool with a beach-style entrance and a cloverleaf-shaped hydrotherapy spa that fits up to 20 people. The main competition pool measures 51 meters by 25 meters and includes a one-meter movable bulkhead along with two one-meter and two three-meter diving boards.
The nerve center of the Aztec Aquaplex lies in the 5,000 square-foot operations building, which contains showers, locker rooms, restrooms, administrative offices, guest services and storage. The facility, which will also serve as home for the San Diego State swimming and diving team, is equipped with an 8,000 square-foot solar water heating panel that doubles as a shading structure for participants.
Funding for the Aztec Aquaplex, which is being generated through a $16 increase in student union fees, was approved in an April 2004 referendum as San Diego State students voted 64 percent in favor of the project. The facility is operated by Associated Students of San Diego State University.
LOOKING AHEAD
- After Saturday's slate, SDSU will head north once again when it tangles with No. 4 California in Berkeley on March 17. Another twin bill awaits the Aztecs the following day as they look to tame a couple of Tiger squads - Pacific and Princeton. The 13-day road stretch comes to a close four days later with a date against Long Beach State on March 22.
San Diego State returns to the friendly confines of the Aztec Aquaplex when it plays host to its own mini-tournament - the Aztec Invitational - March 24-25. The Scarlet and Black will lock horns with Brown and Claremont-Scripps on day one, while encounters with Pomona-Pitzer and Cal State Bakersfield round out the action the next day.