GCC Championships Preview
Friday, April 26 vs. (7) Santa Clara | 3:15 p.m.
Saturday, April 27 vs. (3) LMU or (6) California Baptist| 11:00 a.m. or 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 28 vs. TBD | Time TBD
Fresno, Calif. | Fresno State Aquatics Center
Championship Central
Storylines
- The Aztecs head to Fresno, Calif. for the GCC Championships this weekend. After going 5-2 in conference play, they earned the No. 2 seed and will kick off the tournament against the No. 7 seed, Santa Clara, Friday at 3:15 p.m. If they advance, they will face the winner of No. 3 LMU and No. 6 California Baptist. The winner of the tournament earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
- After winning seven of eight, the Aztecs lost their last two regular season games. They ended their conference season with a 12-7 loss to No. 8 Pacific, the GCC regular season champ. Last Saturday, they fell to No. 14 UC San Diego 9-5 in the annual Harper Cup.
- Four Aztecs received all-GCC honors, the conference office announced Wednesday morning. Emily Bennett was a first-team selection, senior co-captains Hannah Carrillo and Maura Cantoni were named to the second-team and Sydney Hurst made the all-freshman team. Bennett posted team-high figures in goals (40), steals (68) and ejections drawn (63). Carrillo, who earned her third all-GCC honor, is second on the team in goals (38) and has a team-high 36 assists. Cantoni has a league-high 226 saves and has 17 shutout quarters. Hurst was second on the team with 39 ejections drawn and had 13 steals.
- This is the sixth straight season in which an Aztec goalkeeper has earned all-Golden Coast recognition and the fifth consecutive year an Aztec has been named to the all-freshman team.
- The Aztecs honored their three seniors (Mary Myers, Maura Cantoni and Hannah Carrillo) before last Saturday's game against UC San Diego. Myers is in her second year at SDSU and has scored 14 goals, dished out 13 assists and recorded 34 steals this year. Cantoni leads the GCC in saves and has recorded at least 200 saves the last two years. Carrillo has 125 goals and 101 assists in her career. This year, she has 38 goals and a team-high 38 assists, the fifth most points in the GCC.
- Emily Bennett leads the GCC with 68 steals, 25 more than any other player. Fellow Aztec Lucia Carballo is in second with 43 takeaways.
- The Aztecs are 14-6 when they score seven or more goals.
- This will be the Aztecs' sixth GCC Tournament. They are 7-4 all-time and have won it once and taken second three times. Last year they earned the No. 3 seed and beat the No. 6 seed California Baptist 7-6 but then fell to the No. 2 seed LMU 10-7. They then beat the No. 4 seed Azusa Pacific 8-5 to earn third place.
- The Aztecs beat Santa Clara 4-1 at home on March 28. Maura Cantoni had 12 saves and limited the Broncos to one goal on 20 shots. Hannah Carrillo scored two goals and Shelby Kraft had a goal and an assist.
- SDSU is 9-1 all-time against the Broncos and have won the last six meetings. This will be their first time meeting in the GCC Championships.
Aztecs Set for GCC Tournament
