By Jessica Jimenez — Staff Writer
San Jose State women’s water polo (4-4) won against cross-town rivals Santa Clara University (4-9) 11-7 Saturday afternoon at SCU.
The No. 19 Spartans were led by freshman utility player Olga Descalzi Portell with five goals on six shots.
“It was nice to see we handle adversity with some of the things we’ve been working on for weeks now,” said head coach Gabor Sarusi. “It’s coming together and improving. Those are positives but we still need to keep improving more into the season.”
SCU junior driver Annie Eldredge scored two goals for the Broncos that helped them see a 3-2 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
SJSU came back on top in the second quarter scoring four goals. Sophomore 2-meter defender Tyanna Supreme helped the team overpower the Broncos with two goals.
“I felt like our second quarter was a momentum changer for the game,” Sarusi said. “We came out with more poise and more hunger. I felt like we could’ve had a way more advantage than a two-goal lead but it was nice to be up at half.”
The Spartans returned after the half with a goal scored Descalzi Portell with only 14 seconds at the beginning of the play on even strength.
She scored a total of five goals by possession of the ball leading all the way up until the end of the fourth quarter.
SJSU had several offensive fouls including 15 exclusions throughout the game with SCU only having five.
“We are playing dirty,” Descalzi Portell said. “We have so many exclusions and we need less. We need to work more, watching the shot clock where we do not have to finish early in the possession.”
Following Descalzi Portell, Supreme and freshman 2-meter Matilda Moore scored two goals apiece. Junior and sophomore drivers Caroline Kerwin and Lili Urvari each had one.
“Our resiliency and sticking together as a team no matter what’s going on in the game works,” said redshirt junior driver Sierra Painter. “When things weren’t going right we never stopped trying, we never stopped grinding. No one gives up and everyone just lifts each other back up and keeps on rolling.”
After a successful win, SJSU will head down south to play the University of Southern California on Friday at 12:30 p.m.
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