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April 14, 2011
SAN DIEGO - The No. 9 San Diego State women's water polo team (19-11; 1-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will head to Los Angeles, Calif., on Saturday, April 16 for an MPSF match against No. 3 UCLA (20-5; 3-3 MPSF). First sprint at the Spieker Aquatics Center is scheduled for 1 p.m. PT.
Aztec Story Lines
- Coming off a back-and-forth 15-12 loss at No. 2 California last weekend, No. 9 San Diego State heads to UCLA this Saturday for a conference match against the No. 3 Bruins. Saturday's contest will be the last MPSF game of the regular season for SDSU, who will play one more game at home before heading to the MPSF Championships on April 30 in San Jose, Calif.
- In their only other meeting this year, UCLA defeated SDSU, 8-7, back on February 13 at the UCSD Triton Invitational. The Bruins will have home-pool advantage this time, but that may not factor much into the game. UCLA is only 3-2 at home this season, while the Aztecs are 2-2 on the road.
-With Saturday's loss, the Aztecs were removed from contention for an NCAA at-large bid. SDSU's hopes of being invited to the eight-team tournament now rest squarely on their performance at the MPSF Championships, where the winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid to the big dance. With no pressure to win this weekend, the Aztecs may try to take advantage of the match to really scout out their potential MPSF Championships opponent and experiment new strategies.
Scouting UCLA
SDSU must shut down two elite scorers in order to win this weekend. Senior Priscilla Orozco (46) and junior KK Clark (36) rank one-two in goals scored this season for the Bruins and have combined to lead the team in scoring in 15 of the Bruins' 25 games. UCLA has won seven of their last ten matches and will face No. 8 Loyola Marymount at home on Thursday before taking on SDSU on Saturday. UCLA will be pressing hard for both victories this weekend, as they are currently jockeying with No. 5 Hawai'i and No. 4 USC for the number three seed in the MPSF.
Series history
In 1995, the Aztecs won the first three meetings between the two teams. SDSU would not see a single victory for the next 14 years, however, as UCLA won 30 consecutive matches until the Aztecs broke the streak with an overtime victory back on Jan. 23, 2010. Since then, UCLA has won two straight contests. The Bruins hold a 31-4 all-time series advantage over SDSU.
Quarterback Brady
With seven assists during Saturday's game at California, playmaking senior Sarah Brady set an SDSU single-game record, breaking Becca Ur's old mark of five. Brady now has a team-high 59 assists on the season and has compiled 172 total helpers during her tenure at Montezuma Mesa. The Los Alamitos, Calif., product now sits 14 assists behind Elana Cervantes (2004-07) for most all-time in SDSU history and two behind her for the SDSU single-season record, set back in 2007.
Can't Touch This
Senior Ronni Gautschi set an Aztec 2011 individual game high on Saturday against California, drawing six ejections. She now has 46 on the year and 175 in her collegiate career, fifth all-time in SDSU history and four behind No. 4 Larisa Baltgalvis (1997-00).