By Austin Turner – Staff Writer
After two losses to top-five teams last weekend, the No. 17 San Jose State men’s water polo team has found itself in a bit of a rough patch midway through the season.
The team will face an absolutely brutal schedule this weekend as it travels down south to take on No. 5 UC Santa Barbara on Friday, No. 2 UCLA on Saturday and the No.1 team in the country, USC on Sunday.
The gauntlet of a weekend will be the ultimate test for the Spartans, who come into the matches at an even 4-4 record after falling to No. 3 Cal 22-1 and 16-3 to No. 4 Stanford last week.
Friday’s match against UCSB will be SJSU’s Golden Coast Conference opener. It will be seeking revenge as the last time the two teams met, the Gauchos defeated the Spartans in overtime to earn fifth place in the 2017 GCC tournament.
The teams did however split their regular season series, with one win each.
UCSB is 12-5, which includes a loss to UCLA and two to USC.
In last year’s matchup with the UCLA Bruins, the Spartans fell 14-6. They faced the USC Trojans twice, losing 18-9 in the first game and 24-8 in the second.
SJSU will be looking to give the two teams from Los Angeles their first losses of the season. UCLA currently stands at 15-0 and USC is 17-0.
It will certainly be a challenge for the Spartans to go against the two water polo powerhouses. The teams have dominated the sport at the collegiate level in recent history.
USC has appeared in an astounding 13 consecutive National Championship games dating back to 2005. It has, however, lost the last four championship games, with three of those losses coming against its crosstown rival UCLA, the current defending champion.
The Spartans have a steep hill to climb this weekend against the top teams in the sport. If they want to be the best, they’ve got to beat the best.
SJSU will open up this weekend’s play in Santa Barbara against the Gauchos on Friday at 7 p.m.
The team’s matchup at UCLA will tip off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, with USC to follow on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Follow Austin on Twitter @AustinTurnt
