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Aztec Story Lines
The No. 9 San Diego State women's water polo team will play its last regular-season match of the 2011 season on Friday against cross-town rival UC San Diego. The game, which is set for a 3 p.m. PT start at the Aztec Aquaplex, is recognized as the annual Harper Cup, an event that the Aztecs have never lost. The game will also be Senior Day for the SDSU, which heads to San Jose, Calif. on April 29 for the MPSF Championships.
In their only other meeting this year, SDSU defeated UCSD, 10-6, at the Hawai'i Invitational on March 25.
Scouting UC San Diego
The UCSD Tritons enter Friday's contest ranked No. 20 in the NCAA. Despite a 14-17 overall record, the Tritons will enter the WWPA Championships next week as the No. 2 seed after finishing the regular season 9-1 in conference play. Should the Tritons be able to get by No. 8 LMU and the rest of the WWPA, they will earn an automatic bid to the eight-team NCAA Tournament held next month. UCSD packs a one-two scoring punch in leading scorers Hanalei Crowell and Kristen Bates. Crowell leads the Tritons in goals (48), assists (49) and total points (97), while Bates is second in all three categories (47+29=76). A key to SDSU's success this Friday will be getting of to a fast start, as UCSD has been outscored by opponents this season in each of the first three quarters.
About the Harper Cup
The Harper Cup is named for former UC San Diego men's water polo coach Denny Harper, who played at San Diego State as an undergraduate and established the SDSU women's water polo club team. Harper graduated from SDSU in 1978 before coaching the UCSD women's team to five collegiate national championships from 1985-1999. Since the Harper Cup's inception in 2002, SDSU has won all nine times and has outscored the Tritons 82-48. In 2010, Meaghan Poland was named Harper Cup MVP after her three-goal performance led SDSU to an 11-3 victory. No player has ever been named the game's MVP more than once.
Thank You Seniors
Friday's contest will be the last game at the Aztec Aquaplex for the team's five seniors:Sarah Brady, Ashley de Goede, Ronni Gautschi, Jenna Natalizio and Ashley Novack. Together, they account for 464 games, 286 goals, 308 assists, 304 steals and 17 years of playing experience as Aztecs.
I Don't Take Breaks, I Just Break Records
Junior goalkeeper Kelly Campoli's 10 saves on Saturday pushed her over 300 on the season, making her the first Aztec to ever record back-to-back-to-back 300 save seasons. The two-time All-America honorable mention is already the all-time SDSU saves leader. Meanwhile, Sarah Brady's two assists against UCLA on Saturday gave her 61 on the season, tying her with Elana Cervantes for the SDSU single-season record and one behind Anna Prestegard for fifth all-time. Furthermore, Ronni Gautschi's three ejections drawn on Saturday brought her career total to 178, one behind Larisa Baltgalvis for fourth all-time in the SDSU record book.