SAN DIEGO – Following a week off after playing on the East Coast two weeks ago, the No. 25-ranked San Diego State water polo team returns to action closer to home at the Claremont Convergence., with contests against Marist and host Pomona-Pitzer on Friday and versus Biola and No. 7 UC Irvine on Saturday. All SDSU's games will be played at Haldeman Pool with live stats and, depending on weather, live streams of each game.
This Week
Friday, March 1
No. 25 San Diego State vs. No. 23 Marist – 3:15 p.m. PT
No. 25 San Diego State at Pomona-Pitzer – 7 p.m. PT
Saturday, March 2
No. 25 San Diego State vs. Biola –10:30 a.m. PT
No. 25 San Diego State vs. No. 7 UC Irvine – 3:30 p.m. PT
Storylines
- San Diego State stands at 7-6 after four weeks of play in the 2024 season. It is the first time since the start of the 2013 season that the program has had a winning record after 13 games and its seven wins at this point in a season, after 13 games, are the most since it had eight in its first 13 games in 2013.
-This week the Aztecs will compete in the Claremont Convergence for the first time in program history.
-In the 30 seasons of Aztec water polo, SDSU has a 585-396 record (.596).
-San Diego State has defeated Marist in eight of the 10 meetings (8-2) in the all-time series, including a 5-2 mark in neutral site games. The last five matchups have come at neutral sites with SDSU holding a 3-2 advantage, including an 8-5 win the last time the programs met, at the 2020 Triton Invitational. The Red Foxes (10-10) play No. 23 CSUN prior to the Aztecs on Friday.
-San Diego State and Pomona-Pitzer have played seven times since first meeting in the 2005 season, and the Aztecs have never lost to the Sagehens (7-0). San Diego State won the initial four matchups by an average of more than 10 goals, however in the last three, the margin has been less than an average of two goals, including a 9-8 win on Jan. 22, 2023, at the UCSB Winter Invitational. SDSU will be playing at the Sagehens pool for the first time. Pomona-Pitzer (4-6) will play UC Irvine in its game prior to facing the Aztecs.
-The Aztecs and Biola will be competing against each other for the first time. The Eagles (4-8) have games against No. 15 UC San Diego and Iona on Friday before opening Saturday against the Aztecs.
-In the series against No. 7 UC Irvine, San Diego State has won 25 of the 44 meetings (25-19). After a 6-5 win over the Anteaters on Feb. 24, 2013, San Diego State led the series 25-6, but hasn't gotten a victory over UC Irvine in its last 13 meetings. In each of its last 39 encounters, the Anteaters have been a top 25-ranked team. The last matchup between these programs was on March 20, 2022, and resulted in a 10-14 loss for the Scarlet and Black at the UC Irvine pool. In neutral site games the Aztecs are 12-2.
-Sophomore Claudia Valdes leads the Aztecs attack with a team-high 30 goals and 45 points. She is one of five SDSU players with double digit goals this season. In addition, she has 15 assists, a team-best matching 14 steals and six blocks. Valdes has scored multiple goals in nine of the team's 13 games, including four hat tricks and a season-high four goals against No. 2 Hawai'i and No. 10 Princeton.
-Freshman Mimi Stoupas has the team's best shot percentage (.870) among those with at least 10 shots attempts, scoring on 20 of 23 shots. She has drawn a team-high 20 exclusions and has six steals. She has seven multi-goal games including a pair of tallies in six of the last eight games.
-Junior Klara Goldstein has 24 points and 18 goals, third best in both categories for SDSU. In addition, she has six assists and eight steals and a pair of hat tricks.
-Sophomore Sydney Gish has 15 goals, eight assists and 23 points. She has drawn 17 exclusions, stolen the ball 12 times and blocked a shot. Six of her 15 goals came in the season opener against Cal State Monterey Bay and those six strikes are tied for the third most in a game in program history.
-Junior Rose Kanemy leads the team with 18 assists and has scored eight times for a total of 26 points. She also has four steals and three blocks. She has five multi-assists games this year, including a game high three vs. Cal State Monterey Bay and California Baptist.
-Goalies Tiaare Ahovelo and Ava Ratajczak have spent most of the time in the cage. In 215:45 minutes, Ahovelo has seen 75 goals go in the net, made 64 saves (.460 save percentage) and has four assists and nine steals. Ratajczak has given up 53 goals in 160 minutes, while making 43 saves for a .458 save percentage. She also has four assists and five steals.
No. 25 Water Polo Wraps Up Claremont Convergence Saturday
