Revenge is sweet.

But not for the San Diego State women’s water polo team.

Two weeks ago in Santa Barbara, the Aztecs defeated the Cardinals 8-7 in overtime to claim third place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference championships.

However, history was not to repeat itself on Sunday when SDSU battled Stanford for third place at the National Qualifying Women’s Water Polo tournament in Berkeley, Calif.

The Aztecs (14-11) jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first period at the Speiker Aquatics Complex. But after matching goals in the second, the Cardinals (22-7) scored two goals in the third period to tie the game at 4-4.

In the fourth period, the Cardinal offense was too much for SDSU to handle. They rallied for three goals and held the Aztecs’ offense scoreless as the Cardinals went on to a 7-4 victory.

“We got off to a good start. I think we looked real good,” SDSU head coach Deena Deardruff-Schmidt said. “Typical of our season, our defense remained pretty good, and we really had no offense.”

Rachel Scott led SDSU with two goals. Both Scott and Sara Hanneman scored seven goals in the tournament to lead the Aztecs.

SDSU was forced to play for third place instead of first after a disappointing loss to UCLA on Saturday. The high-powered Bruin offense, led by four goals from Coralie Simmons, took a 4-1 advantage over the Aztecs in the first period and never looked back as they went on to a 13-4 victory.

SDSU looked better earlier in the tournament when it beat UC San Diego 11-4 on Saturday behind a four-goal performance from Rachel Scott. Despite a fourth-place finish, the team is not too upset since the top seven teams in the tournament will advance to the National Collegiate Championship May 8-11 in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“Of course we’re disappointed because we’d love to win every tournament we’re in,” Schmidt said. “But the main objective of this tournament was to get in the top seven and be able to go (to the national championship.)”

Other teams that the Aztecs will likely face in the tournament are the ones that have given them problems all year: Stanford, UC Berkeley and UCLA. The University of Massachusetts might also pose a threat. In order to emerge victorious at the national championships, SDSU will have to step up on offense.

“We’ve got to really work on our shots,” Schmidt said. “The caliber of play has really risen. It will be a tough tournament.”