March 11, 2015
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State Water Polo Weekly Release
Game Week Preview
No. 15 Pacific (6-7; 0-0 GCC) at No. 12 San Diego State (7-8; 2-0 GCC)
Friday, March 13 | Aztec Aquaplex | San Diego, Calif. | 3 p.m. PT
No. 12 San Diego State (7-8; 2-0 GCC) at Aztec Invitational
Saturday-Sunday, March 14-15 | Aztec Aquaplex | San Diego, Calif.
Storylines
- No. 12 San Diego State will be busy this week as it is set to play six games in three days beginning Friday. The Aztecs will play host to Golden Coast foe Pacific on Friday before stepping into Aztec Invitational competition on Saturday when they will play three games. Sunday will only feature a pair of games.
- SDSU, which is alone in first place in the GCC at 2-0, will face a Tigers team that will be playing their conference opener. Pacific comes into the game as one of the challengers to take the regular-season crown from the Aztecs. UOP received 30 points and three first-place votes in the preseason poll. San Diego State was picked to repeat as champions with 33 points and three first-place tallies. It should be noted that LMU also earned 30 points and one first-place vote.
- After entertaining Pacific, San Diego State will open the Aztec Aquaplex pool for the nine-team Aztec Invitational field on Saturday. In addition to SDSU and UOP, Bucknell, Hawai'i, Indiana, Princeton, UC San Diego, Wagner and Whittier will compete.
- The Aztecs are coming off an 11-9 Golden Coast road victory at California Baptist last Saturday. The win snapped a season-long four-game losing streak and kept their sheet clean in conference action. San Diego State, which is 2-0 in league play, is 8-0 all-time against the GCC schedule.
- SDSU traded goals with the Lancers in the first quarter and got one right before the frame ended to give it a 3-2 lead heading into the second period. The Aztecs never trailed the rest of the way, but were threatened in the third quarter when California Baptist outscored SDSU, 4-2, to get within one. Nursing an 8-7 lead, San Diego State was able to keep CBU off the scoreboard just enough to emerge with the two-goal decision.
- Alyssa Diacono made the most of her opportunities against CBU as she scored three times on three shot attempts. The three goals were a season high and marked her seventh career game with at least that many goals in a game. Prior to the game at CBU, her last hat trick occurred on April 25 vs. Pacific at the Golden Coast tournament.
- With her three goals, Diacono now has 12, which is the fifth-highest total on the team. The sophomore also owns the top shot percentage, connecting on 41.4 percent of her attempts (12-for-29). She has also drawn a team-best 20 ejections, including three at California Baptist. Of the three, San Diego State took advantage of the 6-on-5 numbers by scoring twice.
- Taylor Gums proved to be a force in the California Baptist game by scoring three times and recording two steals. Offensively, the junior continually put pressure on the Lancers' defense as she finished with a team-high eight shot attempts. Her three goals were a season high and brought her 2015 total to 11.
- The nine goals allowed by San Diego State was something that has been uncharacteristic of late. Entering the CBU game, SDSU was allowing just 5.5 goals in its previous six games. On the other hand, the offensive explosion was a welcomed sight after the Aztecs had combined to score just eight goals in their previous two games, one of which went into sudden-victory overtime.
- Here is a quick look at SDSU's foes this week...
Pacific (6-7): UOP split four games last week in Davis (lost Wagner, defeated UC Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, lost UC Davis).
Wagner (8-4): The Seahawks went 1-2 in Davis last week (defeated UOP, lost UCD, UCSB) and beat Santa Clara on the road... Wagner will face Bakersfield and Azusa Pacific in Bakersfield on Wednesday, and be at Whittier on Thursday.
Bucknell (6-4): The Bison has lost three of its last four, all of which came at home... Bucknell was at CBU on Tuesday, will face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer on Wednesday, and be at Long Beach State on Thursday.
Whittier (10-2): The Poets have won seven in a row and last lost on Feb. 14.
Indiana (8-7): The Hoosiers went 2-3 last week at the Fluid Five in Bloomington (lost UC Irvine, defeated Hartwick, Michigan).
Princeton (14-1): The Tigers have won 12 straight games... They have not experience defeat since losing to Indiana on Feb. 8.