Women’s soccer team ranked No. 25
The San Diego State women’s soccer team is off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 1996 and earned a No. 25 ranking in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll. The Aztecs are the only team from the Mountain West included in the poll.
SDSU is now also ranked No. 3 in the NSCAA Pacific Region poll, just behind UCLA and Stanford. Again, SDSU is the only Mountain West team ranked in the poll.
“We are honored to be recognized by the other coaches and excited about our start to the season, but we are focused on the end goals we have set for our program,” SDSU women’s soccer head coach Mike Friesen said. “The team has done a fantastic job of remaining focused on our process and we will continue to remind them that our success will come when we focus on that process each day.”
Women’s soccer players earn weekly honors
San Diego State redshirt sopho- more goalkeeper Rachel Boaz was recently selected to the TopDraw- erSoccer.com’s Team of the Week after leading the Aztecs to a 4-0 record for only the second time in the program’s history. This is Boaz’s second weekly honor of the season. Last week, she was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week.
Sophomore forward Haley Locker and junior midfielder Carli Johnson were honored as the MW Women’s Soccer Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, re- spectively. This is Locker’s second award and Johnson’s first award.
Collegesportsmadness.com also named Locker the Mountain West Player of the Week after she scored the game-winning goal against Saint Francis and added another goal against Seattle University.
The Aztecs’ next home game is against No. 5 Pepperdine at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the SDSU Sports Deck.
Men’s soccer players Hylen and Altamirano receive preseason honors
CollegeSportsMadness.com an- nounced that senior midfielder Jose Altamirano and junior goal- keeper Blake Hylen have been named to the Pac-12 preseason all- conference team. Altamirano was a first-team pick, while Hylen was a second-team pick.
Last season, Altamirano started all 19 matches while recording three goals and three assists. Hylen, who was an all-conference honor- able mention last season, started 17 games, recorded 71 saves and posted four shutouts.
Boise State to join Big West
Boise State will officially join San Diego State as members of the Big West Conference beginning on July 1, 2013.
“The additions of Hawai’i, San Diego State and now Boise State have presented opportunities for the Big West Conference to further grow its national profile,” Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell said. “The establishment of the Big West Basketball Tournament at Ana- heim’s Honda Center heightened television exposure, and a fortified group of members have positioned the conference for continued suc- cess moving forward.”
Beginning in 2013-14, Boise State, who competed in the Big West from 1996-2001, will par- ticipate in 13 Big West champion- ship sports. The Aztecs and Bron- cos will participate in the Big East Conference for football beginning in 2013.
“With the addition of Boise State, the Big West further en- hances its footprint and increases its presence in the west,” SDSU Athletics Director Jim Sterk said. “I am excited for the positive im- pact to San Diego State and the Big West.”
Hannasch named Player of the Week
San Diego State senior middle blocker Andrea Hannasch was recently honored as the Moun- tain West Volleyball Player of the Week.
This is the fourth weekly award of Hannasch’s career and the sec- ond consecutive season Hannasch has earned the first Player of the Week honor of the season. Hannasch was named to the Aztec Invitational four-person all-tournament team after leading SDSU to the championship, with wins against Delaware and No. 17 Cal. She had 30 kills during the invitational, including 19 against the Golden Bears, one shy of her career high.
The Aztecs also received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association this week after finishing the week 2-0.
SDSU men’s hoops home games are sold out
It’s official. The 2012-13 San Di- ego State men’s basketball home schedule is sold out.
With season tickets no longer available, individual tickets may be made available for the games during winter break.
This is the first time in program history the entire season is sold out. SDSU averaged 12,096 fans per home game at Viejas Arena last season, selling out 11 games. In 2010-11, the season of SDSU’s magical run to the Sweet 16, Vie- jas Arena averaged 11,668 fans per game, while selling out 13 games. SDSU has led all California Divi- sion I universities in average home attendance the last two years, while ranking No. 29 nationally in 2011-12 and No. 30 in 2010-11.
The Aztecs are set to play seven nonconference games in Viejas Arena before they start the Mountain West portion of their schedule, which will consist of eight games.
