Nov. 21, 2009
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State head coach Carin Crawford released the Aztecs' 2010 schedule on Saturday. Highlighting the home slate is the two-day Aztec Invitational presented by Courtyard Marriott, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation games against UCLA, Hawai'i and California, and at season's end, SDSU will play host to the NCAA Championships in May.
The Aztecs will open their season on the road in Ann Arbor, Mich., when they participate in the two-day Michigan Invitational, Jan. 23-24, before returning to Montezuma Mesa to take on the SDSU Alumni on Jan. 30 at noon PT.
San Diego State will open its regular-season home schedule six days later on Jan. 5, when Marist makes the cross-country trip to take on the Aztecs on Feb. 5, at 3 p.m. PT. Following the non-conference game, SDSU will hit the road for a month, beginning with the Triton Invitational at UC San Diego on Feb. 6-7. A week later, the Aztecs will visit a pair of Big West schools, UC Irvine and Long Beach State, on Feb. 12 and 13, respectively.
San Diego State returns to the campus of UC Irvine the following weekend as it is set to participate in the UCI Invitational, Feb. 27-28, before opening the month of March in Northern California. The Aztecs will play their first MPSF game on March 5 at Stanford, only to travel south to San Jose State the very next day to wrap up their month-long stay away from Aztec Aquaplex.
The Northern California theme will continue when San Diego State returns home as California pays a visit to the Aztecs on March 13 in a game set for 10:30 a.m. PT. The contest with the Golden Bears will precede the Aztec Invitational, which is set to begin later that day and extend into Sunday, March 14.
The tournament schedule continues for SDSU the next week when it travels to Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount for the LMU Invitational on March 19-20. After the brief stay in the City of Angels, the Aztecs return home to face Hawai'i in a conference match on March 24 at 3 p.m. PT, only to return to L.A. for an MPSF clash with USC on March 27.
On April 2, San Diego State will play host to a doubleheader that will feature Brown and Cal Baptist. The Aztecs will take on the Bears at 10 a.m. PT, before returning to the pool to oppose the Lancers in a 1 p.m. PT game. Eight days later on April 10, SDSU will welcome UCLA to Aztec Aquaplex for a 1 p.m. PT Senior Day match.
After wrapping up its home slate, San Diego State will play out its final three games on the road, beginning with a doubleheader in the desert on April 17. The Aztecs will end MPSF action at Arizona State at 11:30 a.m. PT, only to return at 2:30 p.m. PT to take on Indiana in a neutral-site affair. SDSU will then return to San Diego County for a Harper Cup match against UC San Diego. The Aztecs have never lost a Harper Cup game in the eight-year history of the event.
With the regular season in the books, San Diego State will look to earn the MPSF's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships when the MPSF tournament is held April 30-May 2, in Los Angeles. The NCAA Championships, meanwhile, will be held at Aztec Aquaplex for the first time, May 14-16.