By Thomas Christian (@Thomasgoatnba) — Reporter
San Jose State University’s women’s water polo represented the Spartan name with pride in the 2022 Fresno State Invitational
Entering the day with a record of 7-6, SJSU needed to start stringing some wins together to really separate itself in the league standings. The Spartans also wanted to make a statement to show they belong with the big fish after going 3-5 over their last eight matches.
Their first match of the tournament against UC Davis was a rematch of their Jan. 29 bout, which saw the Spartans lose 14-13 in overtime. SJSU played a great game against the No. 10 ranked side but ultimately fell 13-8. After an intense first quarter that ended with SJSU trailing by just one goal, UC Davis unleashed a barrage to extend the lead and never looked back.
Lauren Woolley and Riley Agerbeek each scored two goals for the Spartans and Elaina Davey managed goalkeeper duties for the entire match and recorded six saves.
The loss putting them at .500 on the season, the Spartans needed to bounce back in a big way. With their next match against unranked Biola, goalkeeper Hannah Henry took the season into her own hands, taking a match-long shift at the net, recording nine saves and allowing just five goals.
The rest of the team generated 26 shots on goal in the match and never trailed. Eight different SJSU players scored, with Ryann Lucchesi and Cila David leading the charge, tallying three goals. The final score was 14-5.
The Spartans took another leap forward against Fresno Pacific, recording their biggest blowout on the season. A 21-goal shellacking of the Sunbirds put SJSU two games ahead in the win column, ensuring a positive record at the end of the day.
An unranked opponent, Fresno Pacific, was looking forward to the final whistle after allowing seven goals in the first quarter. Davey made six savesand Lior Ben David recorded five goals in a 21-1 thrashing.
Facing its second ranked opponent of the tournament, No. 8 Fresno State proved to be a tough test for the Spartans. Similar to their match against UC Davis, SJSU held firm in the first quarter before letting it all slip away in the second. The Bulldogs’ Daphne Guevremont proved to be too much for SJSU as she tallied six goals against the Spartans’ defense.
The loss dropped SJSU to 9-8 on the season as questions about this team’s execution under pressure will inevitably surface. The Spartans had 16 power-play opportunities in the match but could only capitalize five times.
SJSU will head to Hayward, Calif., Saturday to play California State East Bay. They are headed down the final stretch of their regular season with just eight games left on the schedule.