Feb. 17, 2011
SAN DIEGO - The No. 7 San Diego State water polo team will begin Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play against second-ranked USC at noon on Saturday. SDSU (8-2) returns to Aztec Aquaplex after picking up four victories, three of which came during last weekend's UCSD Triton Invitational.
The Aztecs began the weekend with a 14-5 rout of Marist at Aztec Aquaplex. SDSU then started off the UCSD tournament with 20-5 blowout of Sonoma State on Saturday afternoon. San Diego State then defeated No. 11 UC Irvine, 10-8, with Alex Ford leading the team with five goals. On the second day of action, the Aztecs were unable to complete a comeback attempt and dropped an 8-7 decision to No. 3 UCLA on Sunday morning. SDSU made up for it though, picking up a 14-12 victory against No. 7 Michigan in the third-place game after a close loss to the Wolverines earlier this season.
The Aztecs dropped both of their contests to the Women of Troy last season, losing 9-4 during the regular season and 15-5 in the quarterfinals of the MPSF Championship. USC would go on to the finals of the conference tournament before losing to No. 1 UCLA. In the NCAA Tournament held at the Aztec Aquaplex, however, the Women of Troy defeated Stanford to win their first National Championship since 2004. Before playing SDSU on Saturday, USC (4-1) will travel to Long Beach State for a noon contest on Friday.