SAN DIEGO – Posting a 2-2 mark at the ASU Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., over the first weekend of the 2025 campaign, the No. 18-ranked San Diego State women’s water polo program returns to San Diego County to compete in the Triton Invitational this weekend with four games over three days starting on Friday, January 31 against No. 10 Long Beach State at 5:20 p.m. PT.
The Scarlet and Black are in the "D" Bracket which includes No. 6 UC Irvine, the aforementioned No. 10 Long Beach State, and No. 22 California Baptist.
Friday's single game will be at Triton Pool at UC San Diego. Saturday the team remains at Triton Pool where, if San Diego State wins its Friday game, it will play at 12:30 p.m. PT or if it falls will play at 9:50 a.m. PT. The results of those two games will determine the Aztecs opponent and game time later in the day.
This Week:
Triton Invitational, La Jolla, Calif.
January 31-February 2
January 31 (Triton Pool)
No. 18 San Diego State vs. No. 10 Long Beach State, 5:20 p.m. (PT)
February 1 (Triton Pool)
No. 18 San Diego State vs. TBD, TBA (PT)
No. 18 San Diego State vs. TBD, TBA (PT)
February 2 (Triton Pool)
No. 18 San Diego State vs. TBD, TBA (PT)
Storylines
-San Diego State went 2-2 in its opening weekend of play at the ASU Invitational. SDSU picked up wins over No. 25 California Baptist (19-16) and Cal Lutheran (21-7) but suffered setbacks against No. 13 Arizona State (13-19) and No. 15 UC Davis (11-13).
-In the Aztecs opening weekend, they got 64 goals from 13 different players, including a team-high 12 goals from sophomore Mimi Stoupas as well as 10 tallies each from junior Claudia Valdes and sophomore Makena Macedo.
- After its victory over California Baptist, the Aztecs moved to 21-10 all-time in the first game of the season and are a perfect 17-0 in season openers when they are the higher ranked team.
-Now, in its 31st season, the Aztecs have a 597-407 record (.595).
-The series against Long Beach State began on March 6, 1998 with a 17-2 victory for the Aztecs. San Diego State leads Long Beach State, 27-19 in the all-time series. The teams played twice last season with The Beach coming away with 16-9 and 14-9 wins. The Aztecs are 14-8 in the last 22 meetings, since March 11, 2006, but in the last seven meetings, starting in the 2017 season, the Aztecs have been able to get the better of LBSU just once. In neutral site matchups, San Diego State has a slim 11-10 advantage and in games played at the Triton Invitational, the teams are 4-4, including last year’s 16-9 loss to then No. 13-ranked Long Beach State.
-The Aztecs lead UC Irvine 25-20 in the all-time series, which began on April 21, 1995, with a 17-2 win for the Scarlet and Black. In neutral site matchups, SDSU is a dominant 12-3 against the Anteaters in neutral site games but lost last year to UCI at the Claremont Convergence, 20-8 on March 2, 2024. At the Triton Invitational, San Diego State has a 5-2 record against UC Irvine.
-San Diego State leads the all-time series with California Baptist, 28-2, including a 19-16 victory in the season opener at the ASU Invitational. The last time the Lancers bettered SDSU was an 8-4 decision on April 13, 2001. The Aztecs have won 26 straight and are 13-2 in neutral site matchups in a series which started in the 2000 season. In games played in La Jolla, SDSU is 3-1 against California Baptist and has won the last three in the Triton Invitational, including a 13-12 win last year at the event.
-The Aztecs' first official home contests are scheduled for Friday, February 14 against California Baptist (noon PT) and the following afternoon versus Pomona-Pitzer for a 1 p.m. (PT) tilt at Aztec Aquaplex.
-For the fourth year in a row, the Aztecs are picked to finish fourth in the Golden Coast Conference (GCC) preseason coaches poll. Fresno State is predicted to defend its 2024 conference title and earned 47 points and five first-place votes, followed by Loyola Marymount (43 points, three first-place vote), Pacific (36 points), San Diego State (30 points), Azusa Pacific (25 points), California Baptist (21 points), Santa Clara (11 points), and Concordia (nine points).
-Sophomore Mimi Stoupas, a 2024 GCC All-Freshman Team honoree, scored six times in the team's season opener versus California Baptist, marking the 17th time in program history a player had totaled at least six goals in a game and the second time in as many years in a season opener. Sydney Gish, a freshman last season, scored six times against Cal State Monterey Bay in last year’s season opener. Stoupas is the team’s leading goal scorer after one week with 12 tallies, a shooting percentage of .600, and along with an assist is No. 2 on the team with 13 points.
-Junior Claudia Valdes, a 2024 first-team All-GCC performer, leads the team with nine assists to go along with 10 goals for a team best 19 points. Valdes has two hat tricks in four games this year, including a single game best five tallies vs. California Baptist and recorded four assists vs. UC Davis, also a season high.
-Senior Rose Kanemy is No. 2 on the squad this season with seven assists, including a single-game high five vs. Arizona State, to go along with three goals. The Montreal native has a career total of 143 assists which slots her into No. 4 on the program’s all-time list, and she enters the weekend 16 from equaling Anique Hermann’s 159 assists (from 2012-15) for the No. 3 spot. Elana Cervantes (2004-07) is the career leader in assists at San Diego State with 186.
-Sophomore Makena Macedo, in four games, has 10 points on 10 goals entering this weekend’s games. She logged a pair of career-high four-goal games on day two of the ASU Invitational and is halfway to eclipsing her goal total from her freshman season (19 goals in 32 games). She has tallies in three of the team’s four games this year.
-Goalies Ava Ratajczak and Tiaare Ahovelo split time in the cage with each logging 64 minutes in the first four games and each appearing in three. Ratajczak (1-0), a senior, earned the decision in the teams 21-7 win against Cal Lutheran. In 64 minutes, she surrendered 25 goals (12.50 GAA), made 17 saves (.405 save percentage) and has four steals. Ahovelo, a junior, let in 30 goals (15.00 GAA) and stopped 22 shots (.423 save percentage).