March 4, 2010
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Water Polo Weekly Release in PDF Format
GAME WEEK RESET
(14) SAN DIEGO STATE (10-5; 0-0 MPSF) at (2) STANFORD (12-1; 1-0 MPSF)
Friday, March 5 | 4 p.m. PT | Avery Aquatic Center | Stanford, Calif.
(14) SAN DIEGO STATE (10-5; 0-0 MPSF) at (7) SAN JOSE STATE (9-8; 0-2 MPSF)
Saturday, March 6 | Noon PT | The Aquatics Center | San Jose, Calif.
AZTEC STORY LINES
- San Diego State opens Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play with a pair of games beginning on Friday, March 5, when it takes on second-ranked Stanford at 4 p.m. PT on The Farm. A day later, the Aztecs will travel south to take on conference foe and No. 7 San Jose State at noon at The Aquatics Center.
- The Aztecs went 2-2 last weekend at the UCI Invitational, winning the 13th-place game in the process. SDSU dropped a 6-4 decision to No. 5 Michigan and followed that with a 10-9 sudden-death upset loss to 14th-ranked UC Santa Barbara on the first day. On day two, San Diego State rebounded with a 9-5 victory over UC San Diego and closed out the tourney with an 11-8 win over No. 15 UC Davis.
- SDSU, one of just two teams to have not played a league game thus far (Arizona State is the other), enters the conference-opening weekend ranked No. 14 in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association Varsity Top-20 Poll released on Wednesday.
- The Aztecs will look to carry the momentum from last season into Friday's game at Stanford. San Diego State has not enjoyed a winning streak of three or more since winning three straight Feb. 5-6. SDSU is just 4-4 since that three-game run.
- San Diego State will jump into the pool looking to snap a 19-game losing streak to the Cardinal. The Aztecs' last victory over Stanford came at the 1997 College National Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich., when they won in sudden-death overtime, 8-7. That win ended a stretch where SDSU won nine of 13 games against Stanford from 1995-97. The Aztecs are 9-23 all-time vs. the Cardinal.
- SDSU split with San Jose State last season, winning the first meeting at the UCI Invitational, 8-7, before falling to the Spartans in a home MPSF contest, 10-9. The series with SJSU is more favorable for San Diego State than its series with Stanford as the Aztecs own a 15-7 all-time lead over the Spartans. The last time SDSU made the trip to San Jose, it came away with a 9-8 victory in 2008.
- At 10-5, San Diego State is two games behind its pace from a year ago. The defense, however, has been stellar through 15 games as it has allowed just 97 goals. At the same point in the season last year, SDSU had given up 108 goals to its opponents.
- SDSU is looking to snap a five-game conference-opening losing streak. The last time the Aztecs won a conference opener was in 2004 when they beat UC Irvine, 4-2. Thelast time San Diego State won a conference opener on the road was also in 2004. Since then, the Aztecs are 0-4 in road MPSF-opening lidlifters.
FRESHMAN ENJOYING FAST START
Freshman Amber Pezzolla is quickly becoming not only one of the best players at San Diego State, but one of the best players in America. She leads the Aztecs with 27 goals, 21 assists, 37 steals and 24 ejections drawn. This past weekend, Pezzolla netted a team-best 10 goals, including a game-high five vs. No. 15 UC Davis. The San Dimas, Calif., native has scored in eight of the last nine games and is the top scoring freshman in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while ranking fourth overall. She has also started all 15 games up to this point.
CAMPOLI QUICKLY CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Kelly Campoli is just 15 games into her sophomore year, but the All-American is quickly making her way up the career saves list. The goalkeeper from Lake Forest, Calif., already has 452 career saves, which ranks fourth all-time in school history. She currently is 92 saves away from tying Ashley Zabel for third, but has a long way to go before catching up with Curran Teigen's 904 career stops. This year alone, Campoli ranks first in the MPSF in saves per game at 10.13 and is two saves behind California's Stephanie Peckham for the conference lead.
AZTECS MAKE EFFORT ON DEFENSE
Last year, SDSU won 23 games and gave up an average of 8.3 goals per game. If 8.3 goals allowed per game is the benchmark to win more than 20 games, the sky is the limit for this Aztec team in 2010. Through 15 games, SDSU is giving up an average of 6.5 goals and that's playing with five players new to the active roster and 11 players who are either freshmen or sophomores.
UP NEXT FOR SAN DIEGO STATE....
After its Northern California road trip, San Diego State will return to Aztec Aquaplex for the first time since Feb. 5 to play host to the Aztec Invitational presented by Courtyard Marriott San Diego Central on March 13-14. The two-day event will feature No. 4 California, Cal State Bakersfield, which is receiving votes in the top-20 poll, No. 9 Loyola Marymount, Marist, Maryland, No. 20 Princeton, UC San Diego, which is also receiving votes, and Wagner.