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2019 Rainbow Invite | Honolulu, Hawaii | Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex
Saturday, January 19
No. 19 San Diego State vs. Sonoma State – 10:30 a.m. HT
No. 19 San Diego State vs. Marist – 4:30 p.m. HT
Sunday, January 20
No. 19 San Diego State at Hawai'i – 10:15 a.m. HT
Storylines
- No. 19 San Diego State opens the 2019 campaign this weekend at the Rainbow Invite in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Aztecs open the season Saturday against Sonoma State at 10:30 a.m. HT and then take on Marist later in the day (4:30 p.m. HT). On Sunday, SDSU will face the host school Hawai'i, who is tied for No. 6 in the country, at 10:15 a.m. HT.
- The Aztecs were picked to finish third in the GCC preseason coaches poll. The University of the Pacific, winner of the 2018 regular season and tournament title, were voted on to repeat by the league's eight head coaches. Loyola Marymount was picked to finish second and had two first place votes. After SDSU was Fresno State, California Baptist, Azusa Pacific, Santa Clara and Concordia.
- The Aztecs were ranked No. 19 in the national preseason poll. They finished last season ranked No. 20 in the nation.
- The Aztecs are set to embark on their 25th season and the 21st under the direction of Carin Crawford. San Diego State is 520-315 (.623) all-time and 429-273 (.611) with Crawford at the helm.
- SDSU is looking to win its season opener for the second consecutive year. Last season the Aztecs beat Harvard 10-8 at the Bruno Classic in Providence, R.I. to begin the year. They ended up going 2-2 in that tournament, facing ranked teams in all four games.
- The Aztecs are 18-6 all-time in the first game of the season and 15-5 with Crawford as head coach. Under Crawford, San Diego State is a perfect 14-0 in season openers when the Aztecs are the higher ranked team.
- San Diego State played at Hawai'i two seasons ago for the Hawai'i Invitational, where they went 0-3 with losses against No. 3 UCLA, T-No. 12 UC Santa Barbara and No. 8 Hawai'i.
- The Aztecs are a combined 12-1 all-time against Sonoma State and Marist, but just 10-26 all-time against the University of Hawai'i.
- The Aztecs' first official home game won't come until March 6 they host Villanova. Following the Rainbow Invite, SDSU will play in UCSD's Triton Invite (Feb. 9-10) and then the Barbara Kalbus Invitational at UC Irvine. In that period, the Aztecs will host their annual alumni game (Jan. 26) and host the University of Toronto for an exhibition game (Feb. 14).
- Ready to lead the offense in 2019 is senior Hannah Carrillo. The driver has 87 career goals, including 42 last season, which ranked second on the team. The San Diego product also led the team in assists (19) and tied for second in steals (34). After last season, she earned first-team all-Golden Coast Conference recognition.
- Emily Bennett and Maura Cantoni also earned all-GCC honors last season. Bennett led SDSU in virtually every statistical category. She posted team-high figures in goals (50), steals (68) and ejections drawn (72), ranked second in field blocks (29) and tied for second in assists (15). She became just the second freshman in program history to land on one of the top two GCC teams, joining assistant coach and former All-American Ioli Benekou, and the fourth Aztec named to the all-freshmen squad.
- Cantoni landed on the all-GCC second team after starting for the first time last season. The junior goalkeeper played in 28 games and made 229 saves with a 7.74 goals-against average. This was the fifth straight season in which an Aztec goalkeeper has earned all-Golden Coast recognition.
- The Aztecs feature a roster that has nine freshmen, eight sophomores, four juniors and three seniors. It is the fewest seniors on a roster since the 2015 season (3).