SAN DIEGO– The No. 21-ranked San Diego State water polo team jumps into the deep end of the pool with a trip to UC Santa Barbara this weekend for the UCSB Winter Invite. In its opening weekend of competition of the 2023 season, the Aztecs play twice on Saturday, first against No. 3 UCLA followed later in the day in a game versus Cal State Fullerton. Then on Sunday SDSU opens with No. 15 Wagner and wraps up the event against the No. 1-ranked Division III squad in Pomona-Pitzer. All the games will be contested at the UCSB Campus Pool.
This Week
Saturday, January 21
No. 21 San Diego State vs. No. 3 UCLA – 9:30 a.m. PT
No. 21 San Diego State vs. Cal State Fullerton – 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, January 22
No. 21 San Diego State vs. No. 15 Wagner– 8 a.m. PT
No. 21 San Diego State vs. Pomona-Pitzer – 11:45 a.m. PT
Storylines
- For the first time since the 1998 season, San Diego State opens a campaign with a new head coach leading the program. Dana Ochsner, the Aztecs lead assistant for the last three years, took over the program on August 23, 2022.
-For the second year in a row, the Aztecs are picked to finish fourth in the Golden Coast Conference (GCC) preseason coaches' poll.
-San Diego State found itself ranked No. 22 in the national preseason poll, and currently sits at No. 21. SDSU finished last season ranked No. 21 in the nation.
-Carin Crawford, who was at the helm of the program for 24 years, retired at the end of the 2022 season. She led SDSU to a 475-329 overall record and three trips to the NCAA tournament, which included a fourth-place finish in 2007. Her 475 wins are the most in program history.
-In the 29 seasons of Aztec water polo, SDSU has a 566-371 record.
-SDSU is looking to win its season opener for the fifth time in the last eight years. Last season San Diego State was edged by No. 2 Stanford in its season opener at the Cardinal's pool.
-The Aztecs are 19-9 all-time in the first game of the season and are a perfect 15-0 in season openers when the Aztecs are the higher ranked team, not the case this year.
-San Diego State trails in the all-time series with UCLA 41-4. The last time the teams played, on March 30, 2017, the then No. 3-ranked Bruins beat SDSU 22-5 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The last time the Aztecs defeated UCLA was in a 7-6 overtime win in Ann Arbor, Mich., on January 23, 2010. The Bruins have won each of the last 11 meetings.
-Cal State Fullerton is in its inaugural season of water polo. The Titans added the sport in May of 2022.
-The series against Wagner began in 2010 with a 10-4 victory for the Aztecs at the Aquaplex. The teams have met a total of nine times, with SDSU holding a 5-4 margin in the series, but San Diego State leads the Seahawks 3-1 in neutral site games. In the last meeting, on March 11, 2022, in San Diego, Wagner, then No. 14, downed SDSU 13-7.
-San Diego State has never lost to Pomona-Pitzer in six games, including a 4-0 mark in neutral site meetings. Last year, in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine, Calif., SDSU came away with a 9-6 victory.
-The Aztecs' first official home contests are scheduled for Saturday, March 4 in its Golden Coast Conference opener against Fresno State. Three days later San Diego State hosts LIU also at the Aquaplex.
-The Aztecs return just four of its top-10 goal scorers from last year and will need to replace 172 of those players 258 goals.
-Sophom*ore Rose Kanemy, a 2022 honorable mention Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-American and second-team All-Golden Coast Conference performer, returns as the team's leading scorer. She totaled 38 goals and led the squad with 36 assists in her initial campaign on The Mesa.
-Kanemy will be boosted by senior Katie Ratcliff (20 goals and 11 assists), as well as junior Kendal Houck (13 goals and 13 assists) and senior Jessica Leckich (15 goals and 10 assists).
-Among the newcomers, senior Amanda Legaspi, a transfer from UC Santa Barbara, scored 41 goals in her lone full season with the Gauchos and totaled 81 tallies in her first three years. Goalie Tiaare Ahovelo, who arrived in San Diego over the winter break, will battle for time in the cage. Ahovelo won numerous gold, silver and bronze medals in her native land of New Zealand.
- Overall, the Aztecs feature a youthful roster that has eight freshmen, six sophom*ores, two juniors and five seniors.
