Coming off a blowout 22-8 loss in the home opener against No. 2 USC, the Aztecs traveled to UC San Diego (UCSD) for four games over a three-day period. Despite the defeat at home, San Diego State moved up in the new Collegiate Water Polo Association poll from No. 21 to No. 19.

16 schools, sorted into four brackets, competed in La Jolla. The Aztecs were in the “D” Bracket amongst No. 7 Long Beach State, No. 9 Loyola Marymount (LMU) and No. 25 Pomona-Pitzer. 

No. 9 Loyola Marymount 13, No. 19 San Diego State 10 

The first and only matchup of day one in La Jolla was an afternoon game against No. 19 Loyola Marymount. In addition to the Aztecs, the Lions were another Golden Coast Conference (GCC) team at UCSD for the weekend.

Both GCC programs exchanged goals in a gritty defensive battle that had to be decided in overtime.

“We focused so much on defense this week and bringing our team defense together,” head coach Dana Ochsner said postgame. “After those first two weekends when we had the offense. I am really proud that was something we were able to accomplish today.”

While offense was difficult to produce by both sides, it came easily for freshman attacker and starter, Ionna Petiki, who netted a hat trick. Senior attacker Sydney Gish, who finished third in points last season, scored twice.

Despite the Aztecs’ fight sending it to overtime with a 10-10 score against the Lions, it was LMU who scored three times while holding SDSU to none in overtime.

Freshman goalie Kyla Pranajaya shined, tallying up the save total to eight.

“Me having an impact is another step to making the team grow and get to the point we want to be at,” Pranajaya said. “Me making blocks has a big impact, but I’m making those blocks because my teammates are back [defending] and taking away what they need to do.”

One teammate who aids the goalie defensively is junior defender Lucy Bullock. 

“I think it’s a great start we took them to overtime, they [LMU] won the conference last year,” Bullock said. “I think we proved that when we played them in conference, we can beat them.” 

No. 25 Pomona-Pitzer 9, No. 19 San Diego State 12

A morning start time of 9:50 a.m. on Saturday against the Division III Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens was the first of the only doubleheader at UCSD.

Junior center and initial 2026 GCC Player of the Week, Mimi Stoupas, led the Aztecs to their first victory of the weekend with six goals.

While Pomona-Pitzer is not a Division I program, it challenged SDSU to a dogfight. After senior Shannon Murphy scored, making it 8-4 Aztecs, the Sagehens went on a three-goal run, cutting the lead to one.

The run was not enough as the Aztecs avoided an upset loss ending the game victorious 12-9 over Pomona-Pitzer.

“Pomona is one of those teams that you have to absolutely respect and can never underestimate. They are trained to keep battling all the way through,” Ochsner said.

Murphy is part of the captain trio for the Aztecs. She was right behind Stoupas in the goal department with four of her own.

“We [team] were just talking about [postgame], any game we play is an energy game,” Murphy said. “Even though there are things in the moment that we need to fix, [we] keep spirits high and be able to lift each other up in those dark moments to make sure we can get the win.”

This was the first and only game of the new season where the same goalkeeper played all four quarters. Senior goalie Mandy Lagerlof recorded 21 saves while allowing nine, posting a .700 save percentage while improving her 2026 record to 3-2. 

No. 14 UC Davis 11, No. 19 San Diego State 6

Echoes of the loss against LMU were noticeable against the last of two Division I opponents, UC Davis (UCD).

Unlike the game against LMU, the Aztecs did not seem to have any momentum against the Aggies. While SDSU flashed on defense against a higher-ranked UCD team, the SDSU offense struggled to crack the Aggies’ defense.

The Aztecs only put up six goals to the Aggies 11.

Senior attacker Claudia Valdes did not have issues offensively as she scored a hat trick. Valdes entered the weekend with 202 career goals, 10th all-time in Aztecs program history. This hat trick, along with a goal the day prior, led her to 206 goals. Valdes passed Loli Benekou (2014-17, 204 goals) and Shae Philpott (1995-98, 205 goals), moving up to eighth all-time.

Stoupas contributed to the scoring with two goals.

“We had some plays that went well, definitely mistakes that happened that we just have to learn and build on,” Stoupas said.

Early in the season, tough and high-ranked opponents have tested the Aztecs. No. 6 Long Beach at the Titan Invitational, No. 2 USC the weekend prior at home and both Division I opponents at UCSD have bested the Aztecs.

“It’s hard because you want to perform well in every game. But, for us, there’s so many learning experiences,” Stoupas said. “Yes, these games matter but it’s conferences that really matters. Like playing LMU the other day, we took a championship team to overtime. For us, that is a positive to come out of this weekend.”

This result would then set up the Aztecs for a battle against Concordia on Sunday morning for 11th place. 

Concordia 6, No. 19 San Diego State 19

Pure domination from start to finish against the Concordia Golden Eagles was how the Aztecs finished their 2026 Invitational at La Jolla.

Senior utility Megan Holcomb, who was last week’s top point earner at the Aquaplex against USC, scored four times. Three of the four were consecutive, coming in the third, two of which were solo goals.

“Just doing what I was supposed to, the first three were the same scenario, so making sure I didn’t psych myself out was really important,” Holcomb said. “Trusting my training, I go to the pool to get extra reps so it makes myself more confident with what I’m doing.”

Center Hannah Bell got involved as soon as she was subbed in early for Stoupas with an impressive backhand goal. She would score another later against Conocordia, capping off her weekend with three goals, the first against Pomona-Pitzer.

A pair of freshmen who are not heavily involved in the rotations, attackers Natalia Barrot and Mackenzie Dollander scored their first career NCAA goals in the fourth quarter. For Dollander, her milestone happened to occur on her birthday.

Nearly scoring 20, SDSU settled for an impressive 19 while allowing six in the final match of the weekend.

The Aztecs have a rough month of February as the next home game is on Feb. 27 against Santa Clara. An invitational and two GCC away games follow for SDSU after an 11th-place finish at the Triton Invitational.