June 7, 2005
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State women's water polo head coach Carin Crawford announced today the signing of Ashling Taylor and Nicole Louie to National Letters of Intent. The two round out this year's recruiting class and will join the Aztecs in the fall of 2005.
Taylor, a two-meter player from Newport Beach, Calif., is a decorated, four-year letterwinner out of Newport Harbor High School. In her four seasons, she helped the Sailors win the Seaview League championship in 2004 and 2005. In those same years, Newport Harbor advanced to the CIF Division I championship game claiming the title in 2004. Individually, she has earned a number of accolades, including being recently named to the United States junior national team. She was also a 2005 first-team all-CIF and all-Seaview League selection and was named to the all-county squad by The Orange County Register, while the Los Angeles Times placed her on its 2005 all-star team.
Taylor becomes the second incoming player to be selected to the U.S. junior national team joining Anna Gonzalez, who signed in the fall.
"Ashling Taylor is one of the premier two-meter players in the United States," said head coach Carin Crawford. "She will make an immediate impact for us at the two-meter position."
Louie, a native of Santa Barbara, Calif., is a four-year varsity team member from Santa Barbara High School who plays the driver position. In her four seasons, she played an instrumental role in guiding the Dons to a national championship in 2003-04 and four consecutive Channel League and CIF Division IV championships. She is a two-time all-CIF and all-Channel League first-team honoree. In her final season, she accumulated 35 goals on 41 percent shooting, 55 assists and 65 steals.
"Nicole (Louie) will bring tremendous speed and outside shooting to our team," Crawford said. "With her being on four CIF Division IV championship teams, she brings a wealth of winning experience."
The Aztecs are coming off of a season in which they finished the year ranked No. 11 in the nation.