Jan. 25, 2014
Santa Barbara, Calif.-----San Jose State University finished two days of action at the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invitational women's water polo tournament winning three-out-four.
The #12-ranked Spartans (7-2) defeated Fresno Pacific, 18-3, and lost to #6-ranked UC Irvine, 11-6, for a split on their final day.
"We didn't get the win we wanted (against UC Irvine). We ran out of gas here and there," said San Jose State interim head coach Johnny Bega. "We need to work on our defense because we were ejected a lot and didn't come up with the stops we needed.
"We were getting our opportunities on offense. We were getting the ball to the right person, but some of our shots were not getting to the goal."
The Spartans led UC Irvine, 3-0, before the Anteaters scored five consecutive goals to tie the match, 4-4, and eventually take an 8-4 third-quarter lead. San Jose State closed its deficit to 8-6 later in the third quarter, but got no closer the rest of the way.
"It looks like we'll have to get more players in early so our first unit is well-rested for the third and fourth quarters," Bega added. The high-scoring Spartans are averaging 14.3 goals a match, but came up with only two in the second half against UC Irvine.
Freshman Clara Esparscored four of her seven goals on the day against the Anteaters. Espar finished with 13 goals in four matches and already has 32 for the season. She was one of four Spartans to score three times in the 18-7 win over Fresno Pacific.
Rae Lekness, Victoria Smith and Kelli Leabo also scored three times in the Fresno Pacific victory. For Smith, it was a season-high. Back-up goalkeeper Katelynn Thompsonmade five saves in the match and also scored a goal on a three-quarters pool length shot.
The Spartans play in their third tournament in as many weeks as one of 16 teams in the Stanford Invitational, February 1 and 2. San Jose State faces #4-Cal, #16-Michigan, #3-UCLA and a fourth opponent.
San Jose State University Women's Water Polo
UC Santa Barbara Winter Invitational
Santa Barbara, Calif.
January 25, 2014
| Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #12-San Jose State (7-1) | 6 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 18 |
| Fresno Pacific (0-3) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Goal scoring |
| San Jose State - Rae Lekness, 3; Clara Espar, 3; Victoria Smith, 3; Kelli Leabo, 3; Alisa Argend, 2; Katelynn Thompson, 1; Cara Robinson, 1; Brittany Krappe, 1; Rachel Henry, 1. |
| Fresno Pacific - Alyssa Stevens, 1; Emily Marr, 1; Kaeli Hanson, 1. |
| Goalkeeper saves |
| San Jose State - Katelynn Thompson, 5. |
| Fresno Pacific - Kelsie Harvey, 6. |
| Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #12-San Jose State (7-2) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| #6-UC Irvine | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| Goal scoring |
San Jose State - Clara Espar, 4; Timi Molnar, 1; Bianca Seyfert, 1. |
| UC Irvine - Jessy Cardey, 4; Hannah Croghan, 3; Danielle Warde, 2; Michaela Pierandozzi, 2. |
| Goalkeeper saves |
| San Jose State - Maddie Reardon, 8. |
| UC Irvine - Jillian Yocum, 11. |