The No. 24 San Diego State women’s water polo team hosted the University of the Pacific on Saturday, March 23 at the Aztec Aquaplex. The Aztecs battled until the end, but lost against the Tigers with a score of 8-5.
Both teams fought offensively to score in the first period as the Aztecs took the lead with one minute remaining. Defender Lucy Bullock was able to score the first point for the Aztecs, with the assist of attacker Shannon Murphy.
With the rain starting to pour in the second period, the Tigers took over offensively and scored on the Aztecs four times, 4-1. In the third period, the Tigers scored another three points to add to their lead, 7-1. The Aztecs had a chance to end the third period with a point, with attacker Holliss Munchoff adding the second point for the Aztecs, 7-2.
In the fourth period, it was all in favor of SDSU. Although the Tigers were able to score one more point, the Aztecs were able to turn their offensive woes around. They scored three points, one by Murphy and two by attacker Sydney Gish, 8-5.
With the momentum in the fourth period, head coach Dana Ochsner was proud of the team because of their performance and motivation to finish the game strong.
“I’m very proud of the team for not giving up, that’s a big hole and deficit to mentally get your head around and still be inspired to push yourself,” Ochsner said. “To see us be able to do that repeatedly for all eight minutes and hold strong gives me a lot of encouragement that we’re right there.”
Tiaare Ahovelo, who had seven saves against the Tigers, mentioned how she keeps her calm when an opponent is coming to the goal and tries to attack.
“Just knowing that my whole team feeds off my energy,” Ahovelo said. “So if I’m panicking they’re going to panic too. I need to be that defensive leader and make sure that I keep my calm so that everyone else can do their job.”
Ahovelo discussed the team’s defense being on point and about the challenges they faced offensively.
“Defensively, I think we’re all on the same page,” Ahovelo said. “When we’re in a press, we’re in a press, when we’re in a drop, we’re in a drop, so I think it was really good. On offense, I think we had some missing links and not working together as a whole.”
The Aztecs will take on Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 6.
“Offense (is) where I think we really need to think about what we need to do next and what we need to change up a little bit,” Ochsner said. “Also making sure to continue to push confidence and inspire the girls to know that they can do it.”
