Isabelle Hastings was among three San Diego State University women’s water polo players to earn All-American designation by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches for their performances in the COVID-19 pandemic shortened 2020 season.
Hastings, a senior, joined teammates Emily Bennett and Maddy Parenteau on the list.
All three players earned honorable mention designation.
Hastings remains a water polo icon at Mar Vista High School, her alma mater, after racking up 282 goals, 463 points and 241 steals in 104 career games with one CIF championship ring to her credit.
“It was very exciting to see her play at the next level,” Mar Vista coach Chad Kavanagh said. “I was especially proud to see her become a team captain this year. I was able to catch a few games this year along with my current high school girls team and watch her play. She has shown a lot of growth and was having her best year yet. It was a real bummer to have her senior year cut short.”
Hastings earned her first ACWPC All-America selection this year after finishing the season tied for the team lead with 20 assists. She ranked third on the team with 21 goals and 31 steals and was fourth with 51 shots.
A Golden Coast Conference All-Academic Team selection in 2019, she recorded a .412 goal percentage, drew eight ejections and had one field block.
Hastings completed in all 18 games for SDSU this spring, recording five multi-goal games, including three hat tricks, five multi-assist games and six multi-steal games.
She had five assists in a Jan. 25 game against La Verne, a single-game high for the team.
The Lady Aztecs had compiled a 3-0 conference record, 9-9 overall, when the season was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Hastings appeared in 30 games as a junior with seven goals on 25 shot attempts while recording three assists for 10 points to go with 11 steals.
She appeared in 13 games as s sophomore (2018 season) with one goal on eight shot attempts, four assists and five steals.
As a freshman during the 2017 season, she appeared in eight games, collecting three assists.
Bennett, a junior utility and two-time All-American, topped SDSU with 31 goals, while Parenteau, a senior driver, led the Aztecs with 34 steals.
Bennett’s 12 multi-goal games were a team high as were her six multi-assist games.
San Diego State has had at least one All-American following every season since 1996 and its three honors in 2020 equal the second most in a season in the same time frame.
Making waves
Hastings played four years of girls water polo (2012-16) and one year of girls volleyball (2015) at Mar Vista.
Her biggest impact at the Imperial Beach school came in water polo. She scored a single-season career best 110 goals her junior year and collected season bests in points (167) and steals (113) as a senior.
Mar Vista concluded the 2015-16 season with an overall 26-6 record as San Diego Section Division II champions. She had seven points (three goals, four assists) in the top-seeded Lady Mariners’ 8-6 championship game win over second-seeded Scripps Ranch.
Hastings racked up 167 points on 98 goals and 69 assists — leading the team in both categories — that season.
She finished second on the team in steals to senior teammate Stephanie Morales (118).
Morales, who appeared in 94 games for the Lady Mariners with 173 goals and 182 steals, has gone on to play women’s water polo at La Salle University, where she tied for second on the team with eight goals her freshman year.
Jennifer Parra played water polo at UC Santa Cruz in 2009.
Hastings played on the school’s girls volleyball team as a senior. She ranked second on the team with 29 kills and paced the team with seven blocks.
The Lady Mariners received the No. 2 seed in the Division V playoffs and advanced to the championship game, finishing runner-up.
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College commitments
Zach Armstrong (Eastlake, 2020): Webster University
Ali Camarillo (Otay Ranch, 2021): CSU Northridge
Ray Cebulski (Eastlake, 2021): San Diego State University
Mark Cervantes (Chula Vista Calvary Christian Academy, 2020): University of La Verne
Nico Libed (Eastlake, 2023): University of San Diego
Omar Lopez (Otay Ranch, 2020): Azusa Pacific University
Nathan Nankil (Bonita Vista, 2020): Cal State Fullerton
Marcelo Mayer (Eastlake, 2021): University of Southern California
Daniel McElveny (Bonita Vista, 2021): University of San Diego
Angelo Peraza (St. Augustine, 2020): University of San Diego
Ildefonso Ruiz (Mater Dei Catholic, 2020): San Diego State University
Kai Saterstrom (Eastlake, 2020): San Diego State University
Dante Schmid (Eastlake, 2020): San Jose State University
Josh Smith (Eastlake, 2020): Concordia Nebraska
Holden Stephens (Eastlake, 2020): Arizona Christian
Jordan Thompson (Helix, 2020): Louisiana State University
Alumni tracker
Jalen Fejeran (Eastlake, 2019): UC-San Diego
Emilio Luna (Castle Park, 2019): CSU San Marcos
Randy Abshier (Otay Ranch, 2018): University of Arizona
Grant Holman (Eastlake, 2018): Cal-Berkeley
Brian Leonhardt (Eastlake, 2018): San Diego State University
Micah Pietila-Wiggs (Eastlake, 2018): University of New Mexico, Santa Ana College
Zaine Mendoza (Eastlake, 2018): CSU-San Bernardino
Sebastian Olivo (Bonita Vista, 2018): Trinidad State JC
Osvaldo Tovalin (Otay Ranch, 2017): Azusa Pacific University
Alex Verdugo (Bonita Vista, 2017): Long Beach State, Grossmont College, University of Nevada-Las Vegas
Leonard (L.J.) Jones (Eastlake, 2017): Long Beach State
Ben Ramirez (Eastlake, 2017): University of Southern California
Bryan Reyes (Eastlake, 2017): Lewis-Clark State College, San Diego City College, Southwestern College, Vanguard University
Sonny Rivera (Eastlake, 2017): Long Beach State
Juan Sanchez (Eastlake, 2017): Delaware State University
Casey Schmitt (Eastlake, 2017): San Diego State University
Greg (Tre) Brown (Eastlake, 2016): San Diego State University
Angelo Trujillo (Castle Park, 2016): St. Mary’s University
Chris Manookian (Bonita Vista, 2015): Milligan College, Indiana University-Southeast
Kevin McCann (Bonita Vista, 2015): Arizona State University
Abraham Valdez (Otay Ranch, 2015): Brigham Young University
Chris O’Neill (Bonita Vista, 2014): Cornerstone University
Jason Peabody (Eastlake, 2015): Wayne State College
Jack Sandberg (Eastlake, 2015): University of San Diego
Adrian Tolbert (Castle Park, 2015): Midwestern State University
Tucker Torano (Eastlake, 2015): Wayne State College
Isaac Vargas (Eastlake, 2015): Wayne State College
Michael Wade (Eastlake, 2015): Marymount University
Esteban Velasco (Bonita Vista, 2014): Bethel University
Adrian Orozco (Otay Ranch, 2012): UC San Diego (2013-14, 2017), Southwestern College (2015), San Diego State University (2016), Point Loma Nazarene (coach)
