SAN DIEGO – Coming off its first winning season in seven years, San Diego State head water polo coach Dana Ochsner revealed her team’s 2025 schedule for the upcoming campaign.
The slate has a total of 28 regular-season games, which includes four tournaments and a total of 10 games at the Aztec Aquaplex, nine in the regular season and an exhibition against a team of program alumni.
The season kicks off on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 18 and 19, , at the ASU Challenge in Tempe, Ariz., with a pair of games on Saturday and three on Sunday, including an exhibition against New York Athletic Club (NYAC). SDSU is scheduled to play California Baptist (12:40 p.m. PT) and host Arizona State (3:20 p.m. PT) on Saturday and then wrap up play at the event on Sunday with an exhibition against NYAC (9 a.m. PT), Cal Lutheran (11:30 a.m. PT) and UC Davis (2 p.m. PT).
The team’s second exhibition comes at the Aquaplex at 1 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, January 25, against a team of the program’s alumni.
The squad’s next event is the Triton Invitational from Friday, January 31 through Sunday Feb. 2 at UC San Diego. The Aztecs will play four games in the event and their matchups and game times will be announced later.
San Diego State remains out on the road for its next two contests: Saturday, February 8 at Cal State Monterey Bay and Sunday, February 9 at San Jose State, with each game slated to start at 1 p.m. (PT). The Aztecs are 7-0 all-time against CSUMB, including a 2-0 mark in the Otters’ home pool. San Diego State’s average margin of victory against Cal State Monterey Bay is just over 12 goals per game and SDSU has allowed the Otters to get within single-digit goals at the final whistle just once in the series, a 13-4 win on March 31, 2022, at CSUMB. Versus San Jose State, the Scarlet and Black hold a 21-12 advantage in the all-time series and are 4-4 in San Jose, but this will be the first trip to Silicon Valley to face the Spartans since a 9-8 overtime loss on March 31, 2012.
San Diego State makes its second appearance at the Aquaplex on Friday, February 14 against California Baptist, in its Golden Coast Conference (GCC) opener, and follows that game with a single on Sunday, February 15 against Pomona-Pitzer. The start times are noon and 1 p.m. PT, respectively. The Aztecs have fallen just twice in 29 games against California Baptist (27-2) and are riding a 25-game win streak vs. the Lancers, having not lost to CBU since April 13, 2001. Pomona-Pitzer, a Division III powerhouse that won its third straight DIII national title last year, has yet to break through against San Diego State, having fallen in each of its previous eight games against the Aztecs. In games played in San Diego, SDSU has defeated the Sagehens by an average of 14 goals.
The next weekend finds SDSU in Pomona, Calif., at the Claremont Convergence on Friday and Saturday, February 28 and March 1. SDSU will get four games in the event and their matchups and game times will be announced later.
A week later, on Friday, March 7, the Aztecs jump back into league play with a trip to Irvine, Calif., for a 6 p.m. (PT) meeting with Concordia. SDSU is 5-0 in the Golden Eagles’ pool and 14-0 overall in the series. In its first four games at Concordia, San Diego State won by an average of just over 10 goals, but in its last game in Irvine, the Aztecs escaped with an 11-10 overtime win.
The next week, Friday through Sunday, March 14-16, SDSU hosts the Aztec Invite at the Aquaplex. The Scarlet and Black will play Princeton, a team it has played 23 times and come away victorious in 14 games, at 3:30 p.m. (PT) on Friday the 14th. The next day, SDSU will face CSUN (2:40 p.m. PT) and Bucknell (5:20 p.m. PT). The Aztecs are 20-5 versus CSUN, including wins in the last three meetings, while Bucknell has never beaten San Diego State in 12 tries. The event closes for the SDSU on Sunday the 16th against Indiana at 10:30 a.m. PT. The teams have played 20 times with the Aztecs emerging with the win in 12 of those meetings.
The team's next five games are all against GCC opponents, starting on Friday, March 21 at Azusa Pacific (4 p.m. PT), a team it has defeated in 12 of the 13 all-time meetings, including all five games in the Cougars pool. SDSU then returns to the Aquaplex to play Fresno State (1 p.m. PT), which it has fallen to in eight of the 11 all-time matchups, however the Aztecs are 2-2 at the Aquaplex against the Bulldogs.
Next up is a trip to Stockton, Calif., to face Pacific at 5 p.m. (PT) on Friday April 4. The Aztecs are 10-3 all-time in the Tigers pool and overall snapped a four-game losing streak against UOP last year. SDSU then heads to Santa Clara on Saturday, April 5 for a noon (PT) matchup against the Broncos. San Diego State is 16-1 in the all-time series between these programs which includes a 6-0 mark in the SCU pool. The GCC’s regular season concludes for SDSU at the Aquaplex on Saturday, April 12 against LMU (2 p.m. PT). The Lions are one of the few teams with a winning record against the Aztecs (27-18) and have won the last eight matchups.
The final game for SDSU before the GCC Tournament, will be at 6 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, April 19 at UC San Diego against the Tritons for the Harper Cup. San Diego State is 44-20 overall against UCSD, including a 17-11 record in La Jolla. In Harper Cup games, the Aztecs hold a 13-9 lead but have not won the game since 2015.
The 2025 GCC Championship Tournament will be contested Friday through Sunday, April 25-27 at LMU's Burns Aquatics Center in Los Angeles and the NCAA Championship is scheduled for Friday through Sunday, May 9-11 at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center on the campus of Indiana University.