Sturla brings a wealth of coaching experience to the Aggies, having coached club water polo for Davis Water Polo Club from 2005 to 2015. Sturla was theU16 girls and U14 boys head coach from 2009 to 2012, then served as an assistant for the U18 girls from 2009 to 2015. She coached high school water polo at her alma mater, Davis High School, as the Varsity Assistant Coach and JV Head coach from 2008-10 and 2013-15. Highly successful, she coached the team to four section titles in five appearances and developed a total of 12 players into NCAA Division I student-athletes during that time.
Sturla enjoyed a fantastic four-year playing career at UC Davis, earning a multitude of accolades. She received All-Big West Second Team honors three times (2009, 2011, 2012) and was named an ACWPC All-American Honorable Mention in 2009. In 2009 and 2011, Sturla was named to the Big West and ACWPC All-Academic Team. She was named to the WWPA All-Freshman Team in 2008 and was a member of Aggies' team that won WWPA title and finished 4th at NCAA’s in 2008. She currently holds the UC Davis women's water polo record of drawn exclusions.
Sturla played for UC Davis Alumni Doug & Jamey Wright at Davis Water Polo Club and competed with the US Youth National Team in 2006 and 2007, winning gold at the 06 Pan American Games in Montreal, Quebec Canada. She captained the gold medal winning USA Maccabi Women’s Water Polo team at the World Maccabi Games in Israel.
Prior to her collegiate career, Sturla was a standout at Davis High School, where she was a two-time First Team All-American and Section MVP under head coach and UC Davis alumni Doug Wright.
