Every week The Daily Aztec will help San Diego State University fans get ready for the upcoming sports schedule with the Midweek Preview. Here is the calendar of Aztec athletics events for this week, all event times are in Pacific Time:
Thursday, Oct. 20
Men’s Tennis at ITA Southwest Regional Championships, Malibu, all day through Monday
The Aztecs will compete in their second Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) event of the fall; the Oct. 2 event in Oklahoma featured sophomore Alexander Mandma securing a consolation match victory. Last weekend at the Hagedorn Hidden Dual at University of San Diego, junior Johannes Seeman topped the national No. 46 singles player on Friday and held a lead on national No. 42 on Saturday before rain washed out the rest of the day. This weekend’s ITA event is hosted by Pepperdine.
Women’s Tennis at ITA Southwest Regional Championships, San Diego, all day through Monday
San Diego State has been idle since notching two tournament final wins on Oct. 2. First, senior Julia Jordan completed a 3-0 weekend at the SDSU Fall Classic I tournament in the red flights with a 6-2, 6-1 win in the final. Across town at the University of San Diego Collegiate Invitational, the pair of senior Dariya Detkovskaya and junior Andjela Skrobonja sewed up a 4-0 record by blanking their opponents 6-0 in the doubles final. This weekend’s ITA event is hosted by SDSU and USD.
Women’s Soccer (7-4-5, 5-2-1) at Utah State (7-5-5, 4-3-1), 3 p.m.
The Aztecs had their home finale spoiled on Sunday by UNLV 1-0, which trimmed the lead atop the Mountain West to one point clear over New Mexico. All three of the teams that SDSU will close the regular season out on the road against are within three points of the top of the conference table. The Aggies generate the second-most shots and third-most goals per game and are led by forwards senior Sammie Murdock and junior London Miller with four goals each.
Volleyball (4-15, 2-6) at New Mexico (11-7, 2-6), 5:30 p.m.
Both sides enter their only meeting of the season looking to halt multi-game losing skids. SDSU fell in straight sets their last time out to second place Colorado State. Nobody in the Mountain West averages more digs than Lobos senior libero Alena Moldan at 4.49 per set. Senior outside hitter Kaitlynn Biassou is second in conference averaging 4.01 kills per set, while redshirt junior Uxue Guereca is tied for third with 0.36 service aces per set.
Men’s Soccer (5-6-2, 1-3-1) vs No. 5 Stanford (7-1-4, 1-1-3), SDSU Sports Deck, 7 p.m.
San Diego State’s four goal second half eruption clinched the Trolley Series Derby 4-2 over USD on Saturday, as freshmen CJ Fodrey and Austin Brummett plus junior Iñigo Villaldea each notched a goal and an assist. This is the return match from Sept. 18 in Palo Alto which saw the teams draw 0-0 when junior goalkeeper Jacob Castro made a Pac-12 season-high eight saves. The Cardinal have five players tied for the team lead with three goals.
Friday, Oct. 21
Swimming and Diving at Grand Canyon University, time TBA, through Saturday
It is the first trip outside of California for the Aztecs, as they will be competing with the host Lopes, Loyola Marymount and Seattle University in the quad dual meet. SDSU finished second out of seven teams at the Chick-Fil-A Invitational in Fresno on Oct. 7-8 in their most recent meet, highlighted by seniors swimmer Kristina Murphy and diver Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez each earning Mountain West weekly honors for their performance.
Women’s Golf at Stanford Intercollegiate, 7:30 a.m. through Sunday
SDSU tees off their third event of the season at the Stanford Golf Course after finishing ninth out of a 16 team field at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate in Denver on Oct. 7-9. The Aztecs finished 15-over as a team for the tournament, tied with Fresno State and Northern Arizona. Senior Bernice Olivares Ilas finished three-under for the tournament to lead SDSU, which also saw senior April Ranches shoot an Aztec season-low round of 71 on Sunday.
Saturday, Oct. 22
Volleyball vs Air Force (8-12, 0-8), Aztec Court at Peterson Gym, 1 p.m.
This will be the only time the Aztecs face the Falcons this season, who are one of two teams (Fresno State) that are winless in conference play. Junior middle block Joi Harvey leads the way, averaging the most blocks per set (1.25) while also notching the fourth-best hitting percentage (.363) overall in the conference. Air Force is bottom four in all seven of the major team stats for Mountain West Conference games.
Football (3-3, 1-1) at Nevada (2-5, 0-3), 7:30 p.m.
Fresh off their bye week, San Diego State faces a Wolfpack team that has lost its last five by an average of 17.4 points per game. Nevada has allowed the third-most yards per carry (4.57) as well as rushing yards per game (184.29) in the conference. Fifth-year running backs Toa Taua and Devonte Lee have scored seven and five touchdowns rushing each, while fifth-year quarterback Nate Cox has more scores on the ground (three) than passing (two) and has thrown for more than 200 yards in a game against FBS opponents just once this season.
Sunday, Oct. 23
Women’s Soccer at Boise State (7-3-7, 3-1-4), Noon.
The Broncos have the stingiest defense in the circuit, conceding 11 goals in 17 games. Junior goalkeeper Genevieve Crenshaw is tied for the sixth-most shutouts in the nation with nine, but has been forced to make an average of just 2.47 saves per game. Boise State’s offense averages the fourth-most goals per game and are led by freshman forward Hayden Wilsey’s seven goals, tied with Aztec sophomore Denise Castro for second-most goals in the conference. The Broncos host second place New Mexico on Thursday.
Men’s Soccer vs University of California (3-5-4, 1-3-1), SDSU Sports Deck, 3 p.m.
SDSU will be looking to avenge Cal’s only Pac-12 win of the season when they took a 2-0 decision in Berkeley on Sept. 15. The Golden Bears were smothering defensively, holding the Aztecs to two shots on goal, their second-lowest of the season. Since then Cal has earned points in just two matches and has not scored multiple goals in any of the six. However, senior forward Fahmi Ibrahim has scored three of his team-high five goals over that stretch.
