No. 20 Water Polo Swept on Final Day at Claremont Convergence

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The No. 20-ranked San Diego State water polo team saw its season-best four game win streak halted on Saturday by No. 10 UC Irvine and No. 17 Michigan on scores of 18-6 and 14-8, respectively, on the final day of the 2025 Claremont Convergence.

No. 10 UC Irvine 18, No. 20 San Diego State 6

No. 20 San Diego State was outscored 10-0 in the third quarter, which proved to be the major factor in its 18-6 loss to No. 10 UC Irvine on Saturday morning.

Sophomore Sydney Gish led the Aztecs with a pair of goals and was joined on the scoresheet by Sammi Byers, Luna Sarmiento, Mimi Stoupas and Claudia Valdes who each scored once.

In goal, Tiaare Ahovelo played the first three quarters, made seven saves and had a steal, but saw 13 shots go into the net and took the loss. Mandy Lagerlof was inserted for the final period and made a save while allowing five goals.

The Aztecs (9-6) scored the first two goals of the game. Valdes started SDSU off with a goal on a penalty shot at the 5:52 mark and with 4:36 on the clock, Gish made it 2-0. UC Irvine got its lone goal of the period with 2:30 to go and the Scarlet and Black took a 2-1 lead into the second stanza.

Following Gish’s second goal of the game, with 4:23 on the clock in the second, SDSU had its two-goal advantage back, 3-1. The Anteaters made it 3-2 at the 3:40 mark and Byers pushed the lead back to two goals with her strike with 1:44 to go before the intermission. The final score of the second belonged to UC Irvine, with 53 seconds to play, and the teams went to the half with the Aztecs leading 4-3.

In the third period the wheels came off for San Diego State, UC Irvine scored 10 times and held the Aztecs off the scoreboard to lead 13-4 after 24 minutes.

Stoupas stopped the Anteaters’ run 31 seconds into the final period, but UC Irvine scored the next four goals before Sarmiento halted that run with the team’s final tally, at the 1:28 mark. UCI added a final goal in the last minute for the final score of 18-6.

UC Irvine: 1-2-10-5 – 18
San Diego State: 2-2-0-2 – 6

UC Irvine Goals: East (3), Helberg (3), Thomas (3), O’Hara (2), Alexander (1), Graniello (1), Heaver (1), Murphy (1)
San Diego State Goals: Gish (2), Byers (1), Sarmiento (1), Stoupas (1), Valdes (1)

UC Irvine Saves: Kirchner (7)
San Diego State Saves: Ahovelo (7), Lagerlof (1)

No. 17 Michigan 14, No. 20 San Diego State 8

Julianne Stark and Claudia Valdes each scored twice, but No. 20 San Diego State was outscored 9-to-2 in the second and third quarters, which proved to be the difference in a 14-8 loss to No. 17 Michigan.

Joining Stark and Valdes in the scoring column were Lucy Bullock, Sydney Gish, Shannon Murphy, and Mimi Stoupas, who each banged the back of the cage once in the game.

In goal, Ava Ratajczak suffered the first defeat of her season and is now 5-1. She played the entire 32 minutes and made four saves against 14 goals and added a pair of steals.

Michigan scored the first goal of the contest 3:03 into the game, but the Aztecs (9-7) then put up a three spot over the next 2:50. Gish tied the game at the 3:29 mark and Murphy’s strike with 2:43 to go gave SDSU a 2-1 lead. Bullock scored 36 seconds after Murphy to make it 3-1, but the Wolverines tallied the last two goals of the opening stanza, the last with just 19 seconds on the clock, to send the game to the second tied, 3-3.

In the second quarter, Michigan held the Aztecs scoreless while putting up four more goals and took a 7-3 lead into the intermission.

Valdes picked up the first tally coming out of the break, but Michigan answered with five consecutive goals. The run was halted with 24 seconds to go in the third by Stark’s first score of the game and sent the contest to the final eight minutes with SDSU trailing 12-5.

Valdes made it 12-6 a minute into the fourth quarter and the teams traded goals the rest of the way. Michigan answered Valdes’ goal a minute later, at the six-minute mark. Stoupas then scored with 5:30 to play, but the Wolverines got the goal back 16 seconds later to make it 14-7, and Stark closed the scoring with 1:27 to play for the final margin of 14-8.

Michigan: 3-4-5-2 – 14
San Diego State: 3-0-2-3 – 8

Michigan Goals: Ingram (3), Schneider (3), Karampetsou (2), Dickens (1), Jackson (1), O’Neill (1), Pardon (1), Umlauf (1), Waugh (1)
San Diego State Goals: Stark (2), Valdes (2), Bullock (1), Gish (1), Murphy (1), Stoupas (1)

Michigan Saves: Bunnell (11)
San Diego State Saves: Ratajczak (4)