April 11, 2015
Los Angeles, Calif.----- The #3-ranked University of Southern California broke open a close match with 10 consecutive goals over the second and third quarters for a 21-6 women's water polo victory over #8-ranked San José State in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) match.
The Spartans (18-9, 0-5 MPSF) were trailing 6-3 with 3:20 left in the second quarter before the Trojans (21-2, 4-1 MPSF) closed out the half with four goals, two of them on power plays, in a 2:05 span. USC continued its scoring spree with six scores in the third quarter before Clara Espar Llaquet scored her second goal of the match for San Jose State with 0:47 remaining in the quarter.
"We started out much stronger. We were battling them nose to nose, but USC's depth got to us," said San José State coach Johnny Bega, whose team was looking to bounce back from a 23-6 MPSF loss to #2-Stanford the week before.
"We worked a lot harder (today), had a lot more shots on goals and a lot more physical activity."
While the Spartans were a respectable 3-for-8 on their power play opportunities, USC was 9-for-11 and scored on its first seven 6-on-5 chances.
Espar Llaquet, who now has 82 goals on the season, and Rae Lekness each scored twice to lead San Jose State in scoring. Victoria Smith and Kelli Leabo accounted for the other two Spartan goals.
Eleven different players scored for USC. Monica Vavic, the MPSF's leading scorer, was one of three Trojans to score three times.
Katelynn Thomspon was credited with six saves in goal for San Jose State.
The Spartans close out the regular season hosting CSU Bakersfield, Saturday, April 18, at the Aquatics Center in a 1:00 p.m. match.
San Jose State University Women's Water Polo
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match
Utengsu Aquatics Complex, Los Angeles, Calif.
April 11, 2015
| Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #8-San José State (18-9, 0-5 MPSF) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| #3-USC (21-2, 4-1 MPSF) | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 21 |
Goal Scoring
San José State -- Clara Espar Llaquet, Rae Lekness, 2, each; Victoria Smith, Kelli Leabo, 1, each.
USC -- Stephania Haralabidis 3, Eike Daube 3, Monica Vavic 3, each; Jayde Appel, Avery Peterson, Ioanna Haralabidis, Brianna Daboub, 2, each; Melissa Bergesen, Hayley McKelvey, Brigitta Games, Sara Salamon, 1, each.
Goalkeeper Saves
San José State - Katelynn Thompson, 6.
USC - Victoria Chamorro, 9.
Ejections
San José State - 11.
USC - 8.