By Haddy Barghouti – Spear Reporter | Senior Renee Fleming attempts a pass during SJSU’s 14-6 loss against Harvard on Friday. (Photo by Larry Larkin – Spear Photographer)
No. 18 San Jose State women’s water polo (11-10, 0-3 MPSF) lost a tough one Sunday at No. 1 Stanford (15-0, 2-0 MPSF) 20-4.
The Spartans continued their journey in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). They came into this game still winless in conference play, having lost their first two.
The Spartans started the game off slow, falling behind 2-0 in the first quarter. The Cardinal built an early 4-1 advantage at the end of the first.
The Cardinal maintained control of the game, scoring six consecutive goals in the second quarter while the Spartans scored one.
Stanford’s offense continued to click, scoring five more goals in each of the third and fourth quarters.
“You know we’re playing against the number one ranked team in the nation with some current Olympians,” SJSU head coach Beth Harberts said in a video posted to the SJSU Athletics website. “Going up against this game is going to be a lot of good experience for us.”
Although the Cardinal’s experience was key to their dominant offensive performance, the Spartans still had some good offensive performances.
Sophomore driver Darcy Spark scored two goals in five shots.
Redshirt sophomore utility player Isabella Adams helped get her team involved. She led the team in assists with two.
“We threw in some new plays that got us some good looks and earned us some power play,” Harberts said.
The Spartans opened the playbook, needing new plays for these matches. They have now played four straight teams ranked in the top 11.
“We were able to get a lot of different Spartans today that got some good looks,” Harberts said. “Overall, our frontcourt defense had tremendous stops.”
The Spartans recorded six blocks and three steals, putting up the defensive stats.
However, turnovers helped keep the momentum in the Cardinal’s favor, as Stanford had six turnovers while the Spartans had 16.
The Cardinals also maintained possession of the ball, with 34 shot attempts compared to the Spartans’ 21.
The Spartans have now lost four games in a row, but they and Harberts keep the faith and belief as they snap that losing streak when they travel to Tempe, Arizona to take on Arizona State on Saturday. Scheduled start time is 1 p.m.
“Overall really excited about the experience that the Spartans got and the resiliency they’re going in and battling, so really good day for the Spartans,” Harberts said.
