It’s fitting that this year’s San Diego State men’s soccer team’s regular season would end, and depend, on a game with rival UCLA.
SDSU will take on USD in the first round of the NCAA tournament tomorrow
A crosstown rivalry will now take place on a national stage for the San Diego State women’s soccer team.
SDSU will head to the 2009 NCAA Division I Tournament coming off of a seven-game winning streak, an undefeated streak of 15 and a Mountain West Conference tournament victory.
The San Diego State football team needs two wins in its final three games to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2003. And with No. 16 / 14 Utah still on the schedule, SDSU’s best chance to grab two wins will be against Wyoming on Saturday and UNLV on Nov. 28.
But don’t tell head coach Brady Hoke that.
Take a step back in time with San Diego State men’s basketball junior forward Billy White. He’s around 8 years old and is about 5 feet 6 inches and lives in an apartment complex several miles from the Las Vegas Strip. He knows he wants to play basketball and he’s ready to get in a game, but there’s just one problem: There’s only one court in the area.
It was a bittersweet off-season for the San Diego State men’s basketball team.
While SDSU lost a slew of graduating seniors — including second team All-Mountain West Conference forwards Kyle Spain and Lorrenzo Wade as well as MWC all-defensive team guard Richie Williams — it welcomed its most celebrated recruiting class in program history.
The San Diego State women’s basketball team is coming off arguably its greatest season in program history.
SDSU went a perfect 14-0 at home in the regular season, tied for the Mountain West Conference regular season title, advanced to the final round of the MWC Tournament and even advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament by upsetting DePaul on its home court in San Diego.
What’s even more notable is that on paper, this year the Aztecs are going to be even better — much better.
The atmosphere was electric. More than 3,600 fans were in attendance. Ten players were on the court. And two teams were getting ready to face off in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But one player couldn’t be out there with her team against DePaul. Allison Duffy.
Not since September has the San Diego State men’s soccer team been through a slump like the one it experienced last weekend at the SDSU Sports Deck.
The role she was asked to step into as a freshman was a big one.
Lauren Van Orden would start alongside senior setter Leah Lathrop in the San Diego State volleyball team’s 6-2 offense.
Win over BYU in Provo, Utah grants SDSU a bid to the NCAA tournament
The San Diego State women’s soccer team had not won a conference title since 1998 — it had been 11 years since SDSU hoisted a trophy. That all changed on Saturday. In just his third season at the helm of the Aztecs, head coach Mike Friesen led his team to the Mountain West Conference Tournament Championship.
SDSU loses 3-0 to the Rams
On Saturday, the odds were against the San Diego State volleyball team. Not only was Colorado State coming in riding a three-match winning streak, but Rams head coach Tom Hilbert had just picked up his 500th career victory two days prior against Air Force.
All season, the TCU football team’s defense has been getting most of the hype and credit for the Horned Frogs’ Bowl Championship Series potential. But on Saturday against San Diego State, the TCU offense, led by quarterback Andy Dalton, stole the spotlight, routing SDSU 55-12.
TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes came into Saturday’s game with nine sacks this season, averaging a little more than one per game. He’s 6 feet 3 inches tall, 257 pounds, runs a 4.6 40-yard dash and is a projected first-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft.
The San Diego State football team finally made it to .500 this late in a season for the first time since 2003. SDSU won’t have long to celebrate that achievement, though.
On Saturday, the No. 6-ranked team in the country, TCU, heads to Qualcomm Stadium and will bring a fierce defense and an underrated offense.
After dropping its last two Mountain West Conference games, the San Diego State volleyball team will look to get back in the win column this weekend.
Four years of competition, heartfelt battles and success comes down to one weekend: the last two home games of the season for the San Diego State men’s soccer team.
Pac-10 recruiters come through Nick Baiz’s part of town every so often. They’ll ask about his players, and Baiz will answer them honestly. Sometimes the Pac-10 recruiters listen. But other times, they have their minds made up long before Baiz moves his lips.
Double overtime draw marks the ninth extra-time game of the year for SDSU
Overtime tests a team like nothing else: exhausting its physical limit and pushing its mental game as far as possible. The players of the San Diego State men’s soccer team know that as well as anyone.
While most students were out and about until the early hours of the morning on Halloween weekend, the San Diego State women’s soccer team celebrated in a very different way.
Despite a sluggish start against the Lobos, Aztecs win close game
It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t easy. At times, it was downright hard to watch. But on Saturday, Halloween night, the San Diego State football team improved to 4-4 (2-2 in Mountain West Conference play).
Against a winless New Mexico team (0-8, 0-4 MWC) SDSU gritted out a 23-20 win in front of a meager crowd of fewer than 13,000.
But keeping consistent with his mantra of there being “no good losses,” head coach Brady Hoke reiterated that there are no bad wins.
San Diego State’s star junior receiver Vincent Brown didn’t play on Saturday night against New Mexico and missed more than a half against Colorado State on Oct. 24 because of an injured right thumb. Yet without the electrifying Brown, sophomore quarterback Ryan Lindley has played the best football of his young career.
In the past eight quarters alone, Lindley has thrown for 712 yards and a staggering nine touchdowns.
New Mexico is 0-7 this season, has lost by 17 or more points in six of its seven games and ranks, at best, 100th in the nation in six of the eight most important statistical categories. Yet despite knowing all that, the San Diego State football team has some serious motivation to take down the Lobos on Saturday.
SDSU plays its last regular season game against TCU
It’s that time of year.
The fog rolls in, Jack-O’-Lanterns come out, and the San Diego State women’s soccer team tries to finish its season on top.
SDSU won its fourth straight game last weekend in Las Vegas, participating in the third consecutive game where a goal was scored in the first 10 minutes of play.
Humble doesn’t even begin to describe Raymundo Reza. The San Diego State men’s soccer junior forward has accepted recognition but doesn’t think twice about it or even take credit.
It’s all about the team for him.
It happened more than three years ago, but it is something that Courtney Lamphier will always remember. It was the day that the senior defensive specialist’s career on the San Diego State volleyball team began.
Then-head coach Mark Warner had just let the walk-on freshman know that she had made it.
But it didn’t quite sink in until she called her brother.
Phillip Wong contributes to San Diego State hockey with a no-fear attitude. He acts as the current club president and plays a physical game as a grinder.
“I like to get dirty in the corners, take and receive big hits,” Wong said. “To me no team or player is intimidating.”
There’s something to be said for a team that can set a goal and meet it consistently.
“These last five games we outlined a goal for ourselves,” head coach Mike Friesen said. “It was to score in the first 15 minutes, get a shutout and win.”
Sunday’s game in Las Vegas followed that outline, continuing the success the San Diego State women’s soccer team has ignited.
Sunday was a rarity and a game Raymundo Reza will add to his collection of outstanding performances. The junior forward did something he has only done twice in his career and one other time this season for the San Diego State men’s soccer team: tally two goals in a single game.
Reza’s two goals would set the tone and end for the game, as SDSU (6-4-4) would shut down No. 11 California getting its second victory against the Bears in one week on the road.
With no time left in the first half against Colorado State on Saturday, the San Diego State football team was down by 14, had given up more than 100 yards on the ground, and had watched its star junior wide receiver, Vincent Brown, run off the field with a thumb injury.
It was a scene SDSU had seen before.
The beginning of this month wasn’t kind to the San Diego State volleyball team, as it lost three consecutive Mountain West Conference matches.
But things have changed since then.
SDSU is currently on a four-match winning streak, with the most recent being a 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 26-24) victory against Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday at the Icardo Center.
Tomorrow's final home match of this season is Senior Day
The last home game of the season is Senior Day, and emotions are apparent. But the San Diego State women’s soccer team is making sure it doesn’t lose focus on its goals.
Cardenas, Wallace and McManus lead SDSU to Palo Alto to face Stanford
One forward, one midfielder and one defender: Three separate responsibilities, talents and styles all add up to one heart. The heart of the San Diego State men’s soccer team has had three faces this season, senior tri-captains Matt McManus, Jamel Wallace and Nick Cardenas.
For head coach Brady Hoke, there is no such thing as a moral victory. So when the San Diego State football team came close to knocking off then-No. 18 BYU at Qualcomm Stadium this past Saturday, Hoke made sure the media knew he wasn’t happy losing by 10 points.
State-of-the-art 26-foot by 15-foot LED scoreboard added to Viejas Arena
San Diego State men’s basketball sophomore forward Tim Shelton has never been a wristband- or headband-wearing guy. He’s always preferred a more humble basketball game attire.
But now that SDSU’s Viejas Arena has a new, state-of-the-art scoreboard — which will make Aztec players more visible than ever – Shelton has had to rethink some parts of his on-court style.
“Maybe I’ll make sure I shave a little bit more,” Shelton joked.
It was all planned out.
Hannah Evans would be joining the San Diego State volleyball team after graduating from Kingwood High School in Texas. But in an instant, that plan changed.
Chris Wolfinger had just made it. He was playing in his first college hockey game as a freshman against UNLV for the San Diego State ice hockey team. But when the game was finished, so were at least the next couple of months for Wolfinger.
The scene was all too familiar: a one-goal lead stolen away in the final minutes of regulation, forcing overtime against a nationally ranked team because of a controversial call.
Aztecs defeat Air Force in Mountain West face-off
The San Diego State women’s soccer team needed just one goal to seal the victory on Saturday, and they got it early on.
At the 3 minute 36 seconds mark, junior midfielder Michaela DeJesus scored straight off a deflected block. The unassisted shot was the only shot DeJesus took the whole evening.
Her second goal of the season proved to be all SDSU would get, but also all it would need for the 1-0 win.
In what was possibly the best game of his young career, it was Ryan Lindley’s one big mistake that may have cost his team the upset victory.
With the San Diego State football team tied 14-14 with No. 18 Brigham Young, the sophomore quarterback drove his team 56 yards to the BYU 9-yard line late in the second half.
But an interception in the endzone effectively prevented SDSU from posting any more points before halftime and allowed his counterpart, Cougar quarterback Max Hall, to drive 80 yards down the field and score on a 1-yard run as time ran out in the second half.
Last Tuesday, San Diego State football head coach Brady Hoke said BYU senior quarterback Max Hall was “one of the best two or three quarterbacks in this country.”
On Saturday, Hall showed why.
In a 38-28 victory against SDSU, Hall wouldn’t let his No. 18 Cougars go down. He carried the rock 14 times for 51 yards and a touchdown, completed 27 of his 39 passes for 346 yards and tallied three touchdowns through the air.
But his statistics only tell part of the story.
Collins-Parker's team wins Mountain West Conference game 3-0 against Air Force
It had been almost two months since the San Diego State volleyball team recorded a 3-0 sweep.
On Aug. 28, SDSU swept Seattle in its season opener, but in the Aztecs’ 16 matches since, they’ve lost at least one set in every contest.
That changed on Friday night as SDSU (8-10, 3-5 Mountain West Conference) finished off Air Force (8-12, 0-8) in straight sets (25-19, 25-12, 25-17) at Peterson Gym to notch its second straight MWC win and clinch the eighth consecutive loss for the Falcons.
The San Diego State football team is coming off a bye week, which head coach Brady Hoke said was very good for the players.
“In this day and age of football, this is a 12-month-a-year undertaking for kids,” Hoke said. “I think it’s important during that bye week to get them some time to get off their feet and to mentally get themselves ready for what’s ahead of them in this marathon.”
Kristi Jackels made her decision at the last second.
Instead of accepting a scholarship to play at another college, the defensive specialist would attend San Diego State and walk on the volleyball team.
Jackels didn’t have a problem getting a spot, but the experience tested her.
Playing a nationally ranked team is hard enough. Playing without 15 points and senior leadership makes the task even tougher.
There may be such a thing as love at first sight, but for San Diego State women’s soccer midfielder Cat Walker, there’s certainly no such thing as love at first practice.
Passion overwhelms the field nowadays for the redshirt junior, but soccer was not always enjoyable for SDSU’s most dynamic player.
This year, the San Diego State cross country team has two new coaches in head coach Shelia Burrell and assistant coach Jason Karp, Ph.D. The new coaches have added a system that defies the typical athletic motto of “winning is everything.” This season, the goal is to work on new facets of the game every race until the Mountain West Conference meet at the end of the semester.
Sunday was a typical match between the San Diego State men’s soccer team and No. 2 UCLA. It had four goals, seven cards handed out and several heated tempers. After it was all said and done the field was filled with sweat, blood and frustration.
The knock-down, drag-out slugfest went for 110 minutes and ended in an unforgiving 2-2 tie.
Ben Nicoll led the San Diego State hockey team with six goals this weekend as SDSU detonated an offensive explosion that left opposing goalies ducking for cover.
The Aztecs won comfortably against CSU Long Beach on Saturday at Glacial Gardens Skating Arena in Long Beach by the score of 8-6. Senior forward Anthony Sansone led SDSU with three goals and the Aztecs capitalized five times in special teams situations, which would be the key factor in the game.
“It was an issue in the first couple games,” assistant coach David Hough said. “We worked on it. Now the penalty kill is clicking and the power play is moving.”
Aztecs finish with more corner kicks and shots on goal, but can't get the victory at home
There was unanimous agreement amongst the San Diego State women’s soccer team about why a win against Utah on Saturday afternoon was inaccessible: The team just couldn’t find the back of the net.
With more than three times as many shots as its opponent, SDSU still couldn’t defeat visiting Utah on Saturday at the SDSU Sports Deck.
It was a long Saturday afternoon for the San Diego State volleyball team.
SDSU appeared to have the match in hand after taking the opening two sets against Wyoming, but allowed the Cowgirls to mount a comeback.
Ultimately, Wyoming’s comeback bid fell short, as the Aztecs were able to scratch out a 3-2 victory at Peterson Gym.
Looking to build off of a lesson-learning, 20th-place meet on Sept. 26 at the Stanford Invitational, the goal for the San Diego State cross country team this past Saturday was simple: Stay focused and execute the game plan.
Editor’s note: Each week, The Daily Aztec will pick the winners of every Mountain West Conference game.
Aztecs take on Pac-10 rival UCLA in pivotal home game on Sunday
The San Diego State men’s soccer team will play 19 games this season. None, however, will be quite like those against UCLA. The intensity, the heated rivalry, the animosity mixed with respect sums up what playing the Bruins feels like.
Many miles north of San Diego, across the U.S. border in Canada is where Caitlin McMillan’s story begins.
In her hometown of Coquitlam, British Columbia, McMillan found her passion for volleyball.
She started in fifth grade and each year played on club teams with girls who were one-to-two years older.
But it was uncertain if volleyball would be there after high school.
Some teams pray together before games. Some teams have group dinners the night before a big match.
The San Diego State women’s soccer team dances.
On Mondays, Justo “Juice” Vazquez changes to a different person. He brushes his teeth a little harder and he ties his shoes a little tighter. But it’s not that he cares for fresh breath more than anyone else does on the first day of the week. Vazquez does it because he’s jacked up. And why wouldn’t he be? Mondays are flag football game day, baby.
When junior middle blocker Lauren Salisbury was named to the preseason all-Mountain West Conference volleyball team, it was clear that she would play an important role for the San Diego State volleyball team this year. Not only did she finish last season as an all-conference selection, but she led SDSU in hitting with a .344 percentage. But she brings more than just talent to the Aztecs.
Junior goalkeeper tallies 206th career save, giving her the SDSU school record
Home matches have been goldmines for the San Diego State women’s soccer team this season.
Going into Sunday’s game, SDSU was 4-1-1 in home games. The Aztecs found success once again at the SDSU Sports Deck on Sunday, when they were able to shut out Seattle University.
Junior Goalie Aubree Southwick helped SDSU achieve its fifth shutout of the season in a 2-0 victory against Seattle in the Aztec Classic.
Aztecs fall 2-1 to OSU and lose for first time since Sept. 6
Defeat leaves a sour taste, one the San Diego State men’s soccer team hadn’t tasted in six games within a span of 28 days.
SDSU (3-3-3) was left with the this taste on Sunday as No. 37 Oregon State handed the Aztecs their third loss of the season, 2-1, in overtime.
After dropping the opening two sets of Saturday’s match against TCU, the San Diego State volleyball team needed to regroup.
The Horned Frogs had been in control up to this point and SDSU was on the verge of being swept.
If the five-turnover performance against Air Force on Oct. 3 wasn’t sophomore quarterback Ryan Lindley’s career-worst statistical game, then Saturday’s 7-for-27 outing against New Mexico State certainly was.
Kazee rushes for more than 100 yards and Hemmings scores on fumble recovery
In Saturday’s game against New Mexico State, the San Diego State football team was not its stereotypical self.
The much-maligned running game featured an inspired effort by the SDSU offensive line and 101 yards on the ground with a touchdown for freshman running back Walter Kazee.
and 
