April 30, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
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For the first time in program history, the San Diego State water polo team has been selected to participate in the NCAA Championships. The Aztecs received an invitation to the eight-team tournament Monday evening and will face Loyola Marymount in the first round on Friday, May 11, beginning at 6:45 p.m. PT at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, Calif. SDSU earned a No. 4 seed, while the Lions are seeded fifth.
"We are thrilled to be invited to the tournament," head coach Carin Crawford said. "We've worked very hard to put together some quality wins this season and the results paid off. We are extremely excited and looking forward to be playing a good team in LMU."
SDSU, ranked fifth in the latest national collegiate poll, earned an at-large berth after finishing with a program-best 28-8 overall record, which included a school-record 14-game winning streak. The 2007 Aztecs feature a potent lineup that scored 360 goals during the season, the highest total in school history.
SDSU and LMU split their two regular-season meetings this year. The Lions defeated the Aztecs, 8-6, in the finals of the UCSD Triton Invitational on Feb. 11, before SDSU avenged that loss with an overtime victory by the identical 8-6 count at the UC Irvine Invitational on Feb. 25.
The winner of the Aztecs-Lions matchup will face the victor of the Stanford-Wagner game on Saturday, May 12, starting at 5:30 p.m. PT.
The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was established in 2001. UCLA has captured four tournament crowns (2001, 2003, 2005, 2006), while Stanford (2002) and USC (2004) have claimed one title apiece.