By Madyson Montoya (@MadysonMontoya):
San Jose State’s women’s water polo went out of town on Saturday to face its second conference opponent, No. 2 ranked UC Berkeley and fell 13-5.
The Spartans (9-14, 0-1 MPSF) who entered Saturday having won six of their last eight were simply undermatched against the veteran Bears (17-3, 3-0 MPSF).
The two teams faced each other previously this season in February. The Bears had beat the Spartans 18-3.
Since then, Cal has moved up from the No. 2 spot to the top team in the nation, while SJSU was bumped to No. 20.
The Spartans had a slow start offensively, as it was not able to put up any points in the first quarter. The Spartans were more alert on the defensive side in the beginning as they only allowed the Bears to score two points.
It was obvious that the Spartans were not able to keep up for long as they did not put up any points in the first half. The Bears led 7-0 at halftime.
Down 9-0, junior Sheila Jensen was the first Spartan to score. It wasn’t until 4:45 left in the third quarter that SJSU was up on the board.
The Spartans started to pick it up late in the third quarter as freshmen Lili Urvari and Natalie Hosmer each netted a goal.
Cal was still in the lead 11-3 going into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was a back and forth match as the Spartans were fighting for any chance they had to put up points.
With only 4:13 left in the game, freshman Tyanna Supreme scored, but it was followed by a goal from Cal’s senior attacker, Dora Antal.
Less than two minutes left in the game, Jensen scored her second goal for the Spartans. Antel struck back with another goal leading to a Bear victory.
Senior goalkeeper Katelynn Thompson finished with six saves.
The Bears continue to be undefeated in conference as the Spartans have yet to get a conference win.
SJSU will face its next conference competitor Arizona State on April 13 in Saratoga.