SAN DIEGO – Coming off matching the program’s single-game scoring mark in its last outing, 25 goals, No. 20 San Diego State water polo hosts the Aztec Invitational this weekend. Over the course of three days, from Friday to Sunday, March 14-16, nine teams, including six ranked in the top 20, will play 15 games at Aztec Aquaplex.
Friday, March 14
No. 11 Princeton vs. No. 2 Southern California – noon
No. 12 Michigan vs. Bucknell – 1:30 p.m.
No. 11 Princeton at No. 20 San Diego State – 3:30 p.m.
Bucknell vs. No. 2 Southern California – 5 p.m.
Saturday, March 15
No. 11 Princeton vs. CSUN – 8 a.m.
No. 2 Southern California vs. No. 8 Harvard – 9:20 a.m.
Cal State Fullerton vs. Bucknell – 10:40 a.m.
No. 11 Princeton vs. No. 15 Indiana – noon
No. 2 Southern California vs. No. 12 Michigan – 1:20 p.m.
CSUN at No. 20 San Diego State – 2:40 p.m.
Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 15 Indiana – 4 p.m.
Bucknell at No. 20 San Diego State – 5:20 p.m.
Sunday, March 16
No. 12 Michigan vs. No. 8 Harvard – 9 a.m.
No. 15 Indiana at No. 20 San Diego State – 10:30 a.m.
No. 15 Indiana vs. No. 8 Harvard – 3 p.m.
All times are local to the site.
The teams listed first will wear white caps.
Links for Aztec live stats are listed on the water polo schedule page at www.goaztecs.com.
Links for live stats and box scores for all games will be at the Aztec Invitational Tournament Central page at this link.
Link for streaming video is available here.
About the Aztecs
• San Diego State's record stands at 10-7 entering the weekend. Its 10 victories are the most through 17 games, matches the start the team had last year, and are the most since 2014.
• In their return to GCC play last week, the Aztecs dismantled Concordia, 25-7. SDSU’s 25 goals matches the program record for tallies in a game, set on March 6, 2009, against Fresno Pacific in a 25-3 win. In the 1,017-game history of Aztec water polo, it was just the 21st time SDSU has scored at least 20 times in a game.
• In the 31 seasons of Aztec water polo, SDSU has a 604-411 record (.595).
• Senior Rose Kanemy is pacing the team with 38 assists, including a single-game high six vs. Chapman (Feb. 28), among 10 multi-assist games. The Montreal native has a career total of 174 assists, No. 3 on the program’s all-time list, and she enters the Aztec Invitational 7 from passing Sarah Brady’s 180 assists (from 2008-14) for the No. 2 spot. Elana Cervantes (2004-07) is the career leader in assists at San Diego State with 186. Kanemy has 14 goals with eight steals and two blocks.
- Junior Claudia Valdes, a 2024 first-team All-GCC performer, leads the team in points (70), shots (81), and blocks (8) and ranks second in goals (41), assists (29), exclusions drawn (19), and steals (14). Among GCC players she is No. 4 in points, No. 5 in assists, and No. 9 in goals. Valdes has seven hat tricks among 12 multi-goal games. She has four contests with more than four goals, including a season-high five strikes against California Baptist (Jan. 18) and Concordia (March 7). Her four assists versus UC Davis (Jan. 19) are a season high.
- Sophomore Mimi Stoupas, a 2024 GCC All-Freshman Team honoree, leads the team in goals (44), exclusions drawn (32), steals (15), and shot percentage (.629) and is ranked No. 2 in shots (70) and points (58). Among GCC players she is No. 6 in goals. In the season opener against California Baptist (Jan. 18), the native of Melbourne, Australia totaled six goals, one of 16 players in program history to score at least six times in a game, and the first since Sydney Gish scored as many against Cal State Monterey Bay (Jan. 19, 2024). Stoupas repeated the feat in the team’s conference opener versus California Baptist (Feb. 14) and has scored in every game, reaching at least two goals in 11 and finishing with at least a hat trick seven times.
- Sophomore Sydney Gishleads the team in steals (15), is second in shot percentage (.589) and blocks (5) and ranks third in goals (33), shots (56) and exclusions drawn (16). She has upped her goals per game from 0.9 last season to 1.9 in 17 appearances this year and has banged the back of the cage in each of the last seven games. Among her 12 multi-goal efforts, are four hat tricks, including a season-high six goals against Mount St. Mary’s (Feb. 28) and she has five games with multiple exclusions drawn. Among her 15 steals, she grabbed a season-high two in three games and a season-high two blocks came at Cal State Monterey Bay.
- Sophomore Makena Macedoranks fourth on the team with 44 shots and has converted on 16 of them, also fourth on the team, for a .364 shot percentage. She logged a pair of career-high four-goal games at the ASU Invitational and is 84.0 percent of the way to eclipsing her goal total from her freshman season (19 goals in 32 games) after 17 contests this year. She has at least a hat trick in three games among four multi-goal outings, and a pair of multi-assists contests to go along with a field block and one exclusion drawn.
- Goalies Ava Ratajczak, Tiaare Ahovelo, andMandy Lagerlofhave all seen time in the cage. Ahovelo has played 248 minutes in goal, while Ratajczak logged 216 and Lagerlof 80. Ratajczak (5-1), a senior, has started five times and appeared in 11 contests. She has surrendered 81 goals (12.00 GAA), made 42 saves (.341 save percentage) with 10 steals and two assists. Ahovelo (5-6), a junior who has played in 14 contests, 10 of which have been starts, leads the team in saves (85), with a save percentage (.480), while allowing 92 goals in with a goals-against average of 11.87 to go along with six assists and eight steals. Among GCC goalies, she is No. 1 in save percentage, No. 4 in goals-against average, and No. 5 in saves, Lagerlof (1-0) has appeared in six games with one start. She’s made 22 saves and allowed 24 goals. The junior’s save percentage is .478, a 9.60 goals-against average and has two steals and three assists.
- Head women’s water polo coach Dana Ochsnerhas a 39-43 record in three seasons, but 27-22 in the two seasons she has been the fulltime leader of the program. She led the team to a third-place finish in the Golden Coast Conference Tournament in 2024, its best finish in the event since it was the second-place team in 2021.
Inside the Matchups
No. 11 Princeton (9-2)
- This is the 24th meeting between these programs with the Aztecs holding a 14-9 lead in the series.
- From March 8, 1998 to March 17, 2013, the Scarlet and Black won 13 straight games against the Tigers, but since then, Princeton is 9-1 against SDSU.
- The last time the Aztecs defeated Princeton was 12-11 in sudden death on March 6, 2022 at the Aquaplex.
- In its home pool, San Diego State is 7-6 against the Tigers.
CSUN (15-6)
- This is the 26th meeting between the Aztecs and Matadors, with SDSU leading 20-5 in the all-time series including a 8-1 mark against CSUN at the Aquaplex.
- In the last three meetings, including an 11-8 victory on March 8, 2024 at the Aquaplex, in last year’s Aztec Invitational, SDSU is 3-0.
- CSUN has dropped two of its last three games; falling to No. 16 UC Davis (17-11) and No. 3 Hawai’i (14-9) in Big West play, but defeated No. 23 Villanova (17-14). The Matador’s will play at Big West opponent No. 13 UC Irvine before heading to America’s Finest City to compete this weekend.
Bucknell (10-5)
- This will be the 13th meeting between these programs with San Diego State having never lost to the Bison in 12 previous matchups.
- At the Aquaplex, SDSU is 10-0 against Bucknell and 2-0 in neutral site games.
- The Aztecs have scored double digit goals in 10-of-the-12 previous meetings and have averaged 10.8 goals in the series to the Bison’s 4.9.
- The last time these programs met was a 13-5 decision at the Aquaplex on March 12, 2022.
- Bucknell spent this week in southern California falling to No. 7 Long Beach State, 25-7, before defeating Concordia, 21-10.
No. 15 Indiana (12-6)
- The Hoosiers and Aztecs have played 20 times with San Diego State holding a 12-8 advantage in the all-time series.
- SDSU won eight of the first nine encounters with Indiana, dating back to a 20-2 victory on March 9, 1997,at Michigan, the first meeting between the schools, but since April 17, 2010, the Hoosiers have gotten the better of the Scarlet and Black in seven of 11 matchups, including a 15-7 win in last year’s Aztec Invitational.
- In its home pool, San Diego State has a 6-4 record against the Hoosiers.