SAN DIEGO - San Diego State enters this weekend’s play half a game out of first place in the Golden Coast Conference (GCC) standings, ranked No. 19 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) national poll, and hosts its first two conference home games this weekend at Aztec Aquaplex. SDSU faces Santa Clara on Friday and then No. 25 Pacific on Sunday, both games slated to start at 1 p.m. PT.
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No. 19 San Diego State (8-7, 1-1 GCC) vs. Santa Clara (2-11, 0-1 GCC)
Friday, February 27 | 1 p.m. PT | Aztec Aquaplex | San Diego, Calif.
No. 19 San Diego State (8-7, 1-1 GCC) vs. No. 25 Pacific (6-5, 0-0 GCC)
Sunday, March 1 | 1 p.m. PT | Aztec Aquaplex | San Diego, Calif.
Live Stats are available through a link on the team’s schedule page at www.goaztecs.com
Aztec Notes
The Aztecs are ranked No. 19 in the CWPA poll for the fifth consecutive week and have been ranked in the top 25 in each of the organization’s six weekly and its preseason polls.
SDSU and Santa Clara last played at Aztec Aquaplex in a 14-8 win for San Diego State on April 13, 2024. With a hat trick, Claudia Valdes (Sr., ATT, Madrid, Spain) led three Aztecs who scored multiple times, including Sydney Gish (Sr., ATT, Clovis, Calif.) who finished with a pair of strikes, and Tiaare Ahovelo (Sr., GK, Auckland, New Zealand) earned the win with three saves against six goals allowed with a pair of steals and an assist in the first half.
In its GCC home openers, San Diego State has an 8-3 since it joined the league for the 2014 season. (Note: With the 2020 season being halted on March 7 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SDSU did not get to host a conference home game, but was 3-0 in GCC play.)
San Diego State leads the all-time series with the Broncos, 17-1, including a 5-0 mark at the Aquaplex. The Aztecs are currently riding a 14-game win streak against Santa Clara, its longest active streak against a GCC opponent. The Broncos have not defeated SDSU since Feb. 8, 2014, in a 9-8 overtime victory at the Triton Invitational. That is a total, at game time, of 4,402 days.
San Diego State and Pacific have played 45 times with SDSU owning a 35-10 advantage all-time, including a 12-3 mark at the Aquaplex. The Aztecs opened the series, which began in the 1996 season, with 32 straight wins and didn’t suffer a defeat to the Tigers until 2017. However, 10 of the last 13 get togethers, SDSU has come out on the short end of the outcome. The last meeting in America’s Finest City, an 8-5 win for UOP, came on March 23, 2024. Sydney Gish (Sr., ATT, Clovis, Calif.) led the Aztec attack with a pair of goals.
With its GCC opening win at No. 21 California Baptist last week, SDSU moves to 10-3 its last 13 conference openers, regardless of location. When the Aztecs’ conference opener is on the road, they are 6-1.
Senior attacker Claudia Valdes (Sr., ATT, Madrid, Spain) was named Golden Coast Conference (GCC) Player of the Week on February 19. The Madrid, Spain native, posted game highs in goals (4), assists (5), points (9) and steals (2) and drew an exclusion. She completed a hat trick, her sixth of the season, with 4:13 to play in the first half, totaled four total goals for the second straight game and for third time in the campaign’s 14 contests. The five assists were her second most in a game this season and nine points match her career high. It is Valdes’ second GCC Player of the Week honor in her college career and the second for an Aztec.
Following its 15-9 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1-16-26) in its season opener, SDSU has an overall record of 22-10 in lid lifters. In openers away from the Aquaplex, the Aztecs are 15-9, while at home they boast a 7-1 mark in season openers.
Junior two-meter Mimi Stoupas was named the initial 2026 Golden Coast Conference (GCC) Player of the Week. At the season opening Titan Invitational, Stoupas scored 19 goals, drew 12 exclusions, had nine steals and shot a team-leading 67.9 percent (19-of-28) with two blocks and an assist. It is Stoupas’ third GCC Player of the Week honor in her college career.
Record Book Assault
Mimi Stoupas (Jr., CTR, Melbourne, Australia) has drawn 38 exclusions this season and enters the weekend tied with Amber Pezzolla (2010-13) for 10th place on the program’s career list with 162 drawn exclusions each. She has averaged 62 exclusions drawn per season and she keeps that pace, by the end of the year she will sit at No. 8 the program’s career list.
Tiaare Ahovelo (Sr., GK, Auckland, New Zealand) entered 2026 with 442 career saves and in seventh place on the program’s all-time saves list, added 65 so far and now sits at 507. She enters the Santa Clara game 12 saves from Maura Cantoni (2017-19) and her 519 stops, which are the sixth most in program history. If Ahovelo continues to make saves at her career pace, 147 per year average, she will finish the season and her Aztec career with 589 saves, which will slot her in at No. 5 on the program’s career saves list.
Claudia Valdes (Sr., ATT, Madrid, Spain) has scored 221 goals in her three-plus years as an Aztec, which ranks No. 8 on the program’s all-time list and eight from equaling Amber Pezzolla (2010-13) for seventh place on the career list. Valdes came into the season scoring an average of 64 strikes a year. If she continues at that pace, she will complete her college playing career with 256 goals which would rank No. 3 in Aztec history.
In addition to her goal scoring prowess, Valdes is equally adept at setting up her teammates for success. She has assisted on 158 of her teammate’s goals in her three-plus years in America’s Finest City. She currently ranks No. 5 on the career list, one assist from tying Anique Hermann (2012-15) at No. 4 with 159 assists.