March 23, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
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SDSU PLAYS HOST TO INAUGURAL AZTEC INVITATIONAL THIS WEEKEND
- The fourth-ranked San Diego State water polo team, winners of seven straight and 10 out of its last 11, returns home this weekend after a six-game, 13-day road stretch, playing host to the inaugural Aztec Invitational, March 24-25, at the Aztec Aquaplex. The five-team round-robin tournament kicks off on Saturday as SDSU (14-4) squares off against Brown University with an 11 a.m. opening sprint. Later in the afternoon, the Aztecs face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps beginning at 2 p.m., followed by a neutral-site matchup between the Bears and Athenas at 5 p.m.
Sunday's schedule features four games as Brown returns to Montezuma Mesa for two additional skirmishes, taking on Pomona- Pitzer and Cal State Bakersfield starting at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively. SDSU reclaims the spotlight shortly thereafter with a doubleheader against the same two squads. The Aztecs' clash with the Sagehens gets underway at 3 p.m., before attempting to chase down the Roadrunners at 5 p.m.
Following a 3-0 excursion to Northern California, March 17-18, SDSU continued the momentum with a 10-3 victory over No. 15 Long Beach State in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation showdown on Thursday at the 49ers' home pool. The Aztecs broke open a tight 3-2 ballgame scoring seven unanswered goals en route to the big win. Sophomore Jenna Schuster paced the Scarlet and Black attack, exploding for a career-high five scores, while fellow classmate Anna Gonzales chipped in with four goals of her own. Senior goalkeeper Sarah Kilgore shutout LBSU in the second half until one minute was left on the clock as the Aztecs raised their league mark to 5-2.
After this weekend's slate, San Diego State travels to Tempe, Ariz, for the Arizona State Invitational, March 31- April 1, at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on the ASU campus.
AZTECS IN THE POLLS
- SDSU entered the 2007 Women's Collegiate Top 20 Water Polo Preseason Poll in the No. 6 spot and has recently moved up to No. 4 in the latest poll released March 21, as a result of going 3-0 last weekend and registering wins against fourth-ranked California, Pacific and No. 18 Princeton. The No. 4 ranking is the highest the Aztecs have been in the polls since the final game of the 2004 campaign when they were also rated the fourth-best team nationally.
BROWN AT A GLANCE
- The 19th-ranked Bears arrive in "America's Finest City" with a 9-4 overall record, including a 3-2 mark at the Wolverine Invitational last weekend in Ann Arbor, Mich. Brown posted wins over Slippery Rock, Indiana and host school Michigan, but came up short against Loyola Marymount and Cal Baptist. The Bears feature three players on their roster with San Diego-area ties in freshmen Sarah Glick (Bonita Vista HS) and Lauren Presant (Poway HS), along with sophomore Kristin Culbertson (Torrey Pines HS). Glick leads the team with 25 goals, while Presant is third with 22. Minding the cage for Brown is freshman Stephanie Laing, who has 118 saves to her credit.
The Aztecs and Bears have faced one another on just two previous occasions with the Scarlet and Black taking both matches. SDSU posted an 11-6 triumph during the 2003 season and also recorded a 20-3 pasting of the Providence, R.I., school during the first round of the 1996 National Collegiate Championships.
CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS AT A GLANCE
- The Division III Athenas have compiled a 5-7 record thus far in 2007, which includes a 6-5 home loss to Chapman in sudden-death overtime on Wednesday. Claremont has also faced a pair of common opponents in UC Santa Barbara and Bucknell. The Athenas dropped both decisions, losing to the Gauchos, 16-4, on March 10, before suffering a 13-8 setback to the Bison on March 16. Claremont competes in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SCIAC), capturing league crowns in 1997, 1999 and 2006. Saturday's game will be just the third all-time meeting between the two schools. SDSU claimed a 19-2 victory in 1995, the first year the Aztecs achieved varsity status, and also emerged triumphant by a 13-5 count in 2003.
POMONA-PITZER AT A GLANCE
- After an 0-5 start, the Sagehens have turned their season around, winning seven of eight, including a 4-0 mark at the Claremont Tournament last weekend. Pomona-Pitzer has been a force at the Division III level, winning national titles in 1992, 1993, 2003 and 2005. In 2004, the Sagehens claimed their first SCIAC championship and finished second in the country. SDSU has faced Pomona-Pitzer on just one occasion, posting a 17-2 rout during the 2005 campaign.
CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD AT A GLANCE
- The Roadrunners (17-5) are members of the 12-team Western Water Polo Association and recently wrapped up the home portion of their 2007 schedule with a 20-2 romp over Claremont and a 14-10 win over Indiana during a doubleheader on March 13. Earlier this season, Cal State Bakersfield engineered a school-record 13-game winning streak, which was snapped at Loyola Marymount on March 10. Individually, the Roadrunners possess a pair of prolific scorers in sophomore Amanda Ortiz and junior Yulia Blinovskaya. In 22 games, Ortiz leads the nation with 83 goals, while Blinovskaya ranks third with 71 tallies of her own. San Diego State has never lost to Cal State Bakersfield in seven all-time meetings, including a 16-4 thrashing in its last encounter at the 2005 Long Beach State Invitational.
WERNER CLIMBING THE CHARTS
- Stacy Werner is enjoying another productive season as the Aztec senior leads the team with 46 steals and is second with 33 goals and 24 assists. As a result of her efforts this year, Werner has been steadily working her way up the school's all-time lists in the three aforementioned categories. With her six tallies during last weekend's threegame slate in Northern California, the Lodi, Calif., native now has 115 goals for her career, which ranks ninth in SDSU history. Werner also finds herself in fourth place with 202 career steals and now ranks fifth all-time with 89 assists.
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 151 career assists, including a team-high 26 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, scoring 88 of the Aztecs' 161 goals (54.7 percent). Gonzales leads the team with 35 scores and has found the back of the net in 17 out of 18 games this season. The Fresno, Calif., native has recorded 10 multiple-goal games, including a season-high four tallies vs. Santa Clara on Feb. 24 and at Long Beach State on March 22.
Greenwood, meanwhile, has six multiple-goal games to her credit, which is three more than her total for the entire 2006 season. The Sanger, Calif., product leads the team with 43 ejections drawn, is second with a .465 shooting percentage (20-for-43) and ranks third with 17 assists.
Last but not least is Schuster, who has caught fire of late, pouring in 16 goals over the last four games, tying her with Stacy Werner for second with 33 on the season. Schuster's first quarter hat trick at California on March 17 lifted the Aztecs to a 7-5 upset over the Golden Bears, while she combined for eight scores the following day in a doubleheader sweep over Pacific and Princeton. For her efforts, the Upland, Calif., native earned MPSF Player of the Week honors for the period ending March 18. Schuster also leads the Aztec starters with just nine turnovers on the season and is second on the team with 30 steals.
KILGORE WAS HERE
- Goalkeeper Sarah Kilgore is in the midst of another solid season, amassing 158 saves through 17 games, which is eighth 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 eight 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 694 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 12 of their 14 wins thus far in 2007 and have recorded that exact total in five 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.
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 Olympicsized 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 spectators. The facility is operated by Associated Students of San Diego State University.