By Jessica Jimenez — Reporter
The San Jose State women’s water polo team did not let the University of Southern California tread lightly. Despite the 15-11 loss, the Spartans kept it a close contest against the No. 1 program in the nation.
SJSU (5-11, 0-2 MPSF) battled against the Trojans throughout the game’s entirety with the support of the home crowd at the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center.
USC (12-1, 1-0 MPSF) beat SJSU 24-1 in 2018 and 22-8 in 2019.
This time around, the team worked on shots, defense and tactical thinking to stay close to their opponents.
Junior 2-meter defender Tyanna Supreme has seen a lot of improvements over the course of her three seasons.
“In the fall we’ve really been focusing on our basic skills which we never really focused on before,” Supreme said. “I think it’s making a lot of difference come season, come game time.”
The Spartans opened up the first quarter with a goal from senior 2-meter defender Jacqui Maisey assisted by sophomore utility player Olga Descalzi Portell, but just seconds later Trojan driver Verica Bakoc put one up for her team.
Supreme aggressively threw in the last goal for SJSU in the first quarter.
During the second, the Spartans had two consecutive goals from Descalzi Portell.
“I think this year we are working towards not being beaten by a lot of goals,” Descalzi Portell said. “We are working on our defense and on our offense and in this game we showed patience.”
Junior driver Lili Urvari successfully hit the back of the Trojan net, but it was not enough as the Spartans trailed 10-5 to close out the second quarter.
In the second half of the game, SJSU regained some momentum and Maisey scored again.
There were gruesome fights happening in the water and USC was out for blood.
The Spartans did not give in and fought for their place in the pool.
SJSU freshman utility player Zsofia Botka found her way close to the USC cage and surpassed the ball around junior goalkeeper Holly Parker.
Spartan sophomore utility player Clarissa Wandinger and Urvari fired past freshman goalkeeper Erin Tharp putting up two goals in the last quarter.
It was not enough as USC closed out the afternoon 15-11.
Head coach Beth Harberts felt the team was prepared because they focused on the little things.
“Even though we were having a little bit of adversity, we were still able to kind of weather the storm a bit,” Harberts said. “I felt they got a bit more traction on offensive calls which was good and so they carried the momentum.
Next up, SJSU will host Arizona State University for another MPSF match-up at noon on Saturday.
Follow Jessica on Twitter @Jessicajim06