Jan. 18, 2014
Los Angeles, Calif.----- Clara Espar scored four of her nine goals in the first match and Rae Leknessfound the cage for seven of her eight scores in the nightcap as San Jose State University won its first two matches at the Bruin Invitational women's water polo tournament.
Hosted by UCLA, the #8-ranked Spartans (3-0) defeated Cal Baptist, 10-2, and then ran away from Cal State Bakersfield, 20-9.
"We started out slow (against Cal Baptist) and ended strong. We started out strong against CSU Bakersfield and really got it going in the third quarter," said San Jose State University interim head coach Johnny Bega.
"Our defense played very well. We rested our starters early in the Bakersfield game to have them fresh for the second half."
In the opener with Cal Baptist, Espar, a freshman from Barcelona, Spain, scored three of her four goals in the first half as San Jose State built a 6-2 halftime lead. For the second match in a row, the Spartan defense held an opponent without a goal for a half by blanking the Lancers in the third and fourth quarters.
Goalkeeper Maddie Reardonwas credited with 10 saves in the win over Cal Baptist (0-2).
Lekness, who scored once against Cal Baptist, recorded her personal single-match best of seven scores on just seven shots in the Spartans' second match of the day in the six-team, two-day tournament. The sophomore from Calgary, Alberta scored six of her seven goals in the third quarter giving San Jose State an insurmountable 19-7 lead.
"Everyone helped out to get the ball to Rae. It was just phenomenal," Bega added about the Spartans' highest scoring quarter of the season. San Jose State scored on nine of its 10 third quarter shots.
Espar with five, freshman Cara Robinson with three and Timi Molnar and Kelli Leabowith two each also were multi-goal scorers in the non-conference win over CSU Bakersfield (0-2).
Reardon added eight saves to her early season total in the nightcap.
San Jose State concludes its play in the Bruin Invitational, Sunday, January 19, taking on Concordia University and #16-Loyola Marymount.
San Jose State University Women's Water Polo
Bruin Invitational
Speiker Aquatic Complex, Los Angeles, Calif.
January 18, 2014
| Match 2 - Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #8-San Jose State (2-0) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Cal Baptist (0-1) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Goal Scoring |
San Jose State - Clara Espar, 4; Victoria Smith, Timi Molnar, 2, each; Rachel Henry, Rae Lekness, 1, each. |
Cal Baptist - Laura Kocsis, Christina Young, 1, each. |
Goalkeeper Saves |
San Jose State - Maddie Reardon, 10. |
Cal Baptist - Meghan Rowland, 5. |
Ejections |
San Jose State - 8; Cal Baptist - 4. |
| Match 5 - Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| San Jose State (3-0) | 4 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 20 |
| CSU Bakersfield (0-2) | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
Goal scoring |
San Jose State - Rae Lekness, 7; Clara Espar, 5; Cara Robinson, 3; Timi Molnar, Kelli Leabo, 2, each; Rachel Henry, 1. |
CSU Bakersfield - Bridgette Souza, Janelle Shelby, Katie Benson, 2, each; Nicola Barrett, Paige Tusruda, Tancy Aldridge, 1, each. |
Goalkeeper Saves |
San Jose State - Maddie Reardon, 8. |
CSU Bakersfield - Chiyeko Morisaki, 5. |
Ejections |
San Jose State - 15, CSU Bakersfield - 9. |