Feb. 22, 2012
SAN DIEGO - The ninth-ranked San Diego State women's water polo team is set to compete at the UCI Invitational this weekend. The Aztecs enter the two-day tournament with an 8-2 record, their best 10-game start to a season since 2009.
SDSU will open tournament action on Saturday, Feb. 25, in Corona del Mar, Calif., against No. 8 San Jose State at 10:15 a.m. PT. The Aztecs will then play either No. 1 Stanford or 19th-ranked UC San Diego in the second game of the day at 2 p.m. or 3:15 p.m. PT. Saturday's results will determine Sunday's site of either Corona del Mar or Irvine.
San Diego State, which has been ranked in the top 10 all season long, is coming off a week in which it dropped a 9-4 home decision to No. 3 UCLA in both team's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener. The Aztecs received a pair of goals from senior Leanne Ford and single goals from freshmen Anique Hermann and Taelor Moreno. For Ford, it was her sixth multi-goal of the campaign and the All-American enters this week's action with 17 goals. Moreno and Hermann have 13 and 12 goals, respectively.
SDSU's other three All-Americans from a year ago, Meaghan Poland, Amber Pezzolla and Kelly Campoli, have performed well in the early going. Poland leads the team with 28 goals, while contributing 16 steals and drawing a team-high 23 ejections. Pezzolla ranks second to Poland in goals scored with 24, and owns an Aztec-high 32 steals. Campoli, meanwhile, has been steady in goal with 117 stops.
San Diego State's first opponent, San Jose State, comes into the game fresh off an 8-3 MPSF loss to fourth-ranked California last week. The Spartans are 6-5 on the season and 0-2 in league action.
Stanford faces UCSD in its first game of the tourney and will be looking to keep its unblemished record intact. The Cardinal defeated Santa Clara on Saturday to improve to 8-0. The Tritons, meanwhile, upset No. 18 Long Beach State on the road last week and comes into tournament action with a 7-3 record.
After a weekend in Orange County, the Aztecs will head to the desert to face Arizona State in an MPSF match set for March 3. First sprint is scheduled for 1 p.m. PT.