By Matthew Meyer (@mattmeyersjsu) – Spear Reporter | SJSU utilityman Giancarlo Marquez looks to pass to his teammate against Team China-Shanghai (Photo by Alex Stoev – Spear Photographer)
The clouds might’ve been out, but the electricity was in the stands during the home opener exhibition match between the Spartan men’s water polo team and Team China-Shanghai at the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center.
Fans filled the stands to support the Spartans as they hosted Team China-Shanghai, their first ever international opponent.
“It’s a great experience,” junior goalkeeper Brandon Gyapjas said. “I’ve played before in high level, but it’s a really good experience, so I really hope they’re gonna come back.”
While the SJSU women’s water polo team has hosted a team from China before, this was a first time occasion for the men’s team, a rare opportunity they embraced wholeheartedly.
“Playing an international opponent is a great opportunity for us,” junior utilityman Giancarlo Marquez said. I’m grateful for the opportunity to represent SJSU at this level, and for sure on the international stage, like we did tonight. That was awesome.”
“It’s such a cool opportunity,” SJSU head coach Gabor Sarusi said. “I mean San Jose State is a university that has so many international students. It’s in the middle of Silicon Valley so it’s really cool to host international teams and to really show how cool the city and the university is.”
The Spartans held nothing back as they defeated Team China-Shanghai in an exciting 16-10 match.
Marquez’s own history with Team China-Shanghai fueled his performance in the exhibition match.
“I actually played them this Summer at Under 20 Worlds, and they upset us,” Marquez said. “This was a little bit of a revenge game for me. That’s why, in the first quarter, I came up with a little bit of extra oomph.”
Revenge wasn’t the only thing fueling the Spartans. A packed crowd cheered on the Spartans and energized the team’s performance.
“I like the attention,” Gyapjas said. “I love if you have so many people coming out.”
Marquez, who is in charge of the team’s social media account this year, says his goal is to get even more fans in the stands.
“In the water, when it’s closer games we really feed off of the energy from the stands and the fans.”
The Spartans head into a doubleheader next week against No. 4 Stanford and unranked West Valley College starting at noon on Friday in the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center.
