No. 24 water polo falls short-handed against No. 20 Pacific, 8-5

The Aztecs had a scoring run in the 4th period, but couldn’t reach the Tigers

by Abigail Segoviano, Staff Writer • March 24, 2024

San Diego State utility Makena Macedo with the ball in play guarded by a pair of University of Pacific defenders at the Aztec Aquaplex. The Aztecs lost to the Tigers 8-5 on March 23.

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.”

About the Contributors

Abigail Segoviano, Staff Writer

Originally from Richmond, California, Abigail Segoviano is a second-year student, majoring in Journalism with a minor in Spanish. This is Abigail’s second year at the Daily Aztec where she got the opportunity to expand her writing skills as a journalist. As a staff writer last year she had the opportunity to mainly cover the entire season of women’s volleyball and also covered a couple of games for women’s basketball. This year her main focus is to branch out and write for different sports. Additionally to get involved in other sections such as Multimedia and Mundo Azteca. Abigail is the Vice President of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (SDSU Chapter). Abigail received an award from The Daily Aztec: “Consistent Contributor.” In her free time, she enjoys reading, watching sports, listening to music, and going on adventures with friends.

Christie Yeung, Photographer

Born in Hong Kong, Christie Yeung is a first-generation transfer student who majors in journalism at San Diego State University. Prior to arriving at SDSU, she served as the Gaming/Tech Editor, Features Editor and Managing Editor of SAC Media at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California where she was placed in on-the-spot competitions such as fourth in News photo, second in Portrait photo, first in Sports photo, first in Social Media and second in News writing, along with a meritorious mention in the Enterprise News Story/Series category from Journalism Association of Community Colleges. She was also awarded second in Best Breaking News Stories by the California College Media Association. During her free time, she likes to watch European soccer games, read, listen to Cantonese-pop music and play video games and Dungeons & Dragons with her online friends. She also has a sweet tooth and cannot turn away anything with Nutella in it.