Feb. 4, 2016
Returning to action after a bye week, the #8-ranked San Jose State University women's water polo team will face at least two top-10 ranked squads at the annual Stanford Invitational, Saturday and Sunday, February 6 and 7.
The Spartans (5-3) are one of eight teams in the Stanford Invitational. #5-ranked Cal, #7-Michigan, #8-UC Davis, #10-UC Irvine, #11-Pacific, #15-Loyola Marymount and host #1-ranked Stanford comprise the field.
The eight teams are divided into two groups of four for round-robin play. San Jose State, Stanford, Michigan and Loyola Marymount are in one group. The Spartans open play with Loyola Marymount on February 6, at 12:15 p.m., and finish with a 4:00 p.m. contest with defending NCAA champion Stanford. San Jose State lost a 10-5 decision to Stanford at the opening weekend LouStrong Memorial.
The Spartans conclude round-robin play, Sunday, February 7 with a return match with #7-Michigan. San Jose State came up on the short end with Michigan, 18-9, at the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invite on January 24. A fourth match against either Cal, UC Davis, UC Irvine, or Pacific in the afternoon rounds out the Spartans' four tournament matches.
San Jose State is 1-2 in matches against top-10 ranked opponents. The Spartans defeated then #5-UC Irvine, 6-3, and lost to then #7-Hawaii, 7-5, at Santa Barbara.
Senior Rae Lekness remains the Spartans and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's (MPSF) top scorer with 26 goals and a 3.25 goals per match average. Lekness also ranks #2 on the San Jose State and tied for #19 on the MPSF career goal-scoring list at 222. Freshman Carla Toha Vilanova with 10 goals is the only Spartan in double figures after the first eight matches.
Freshman Alicia Magliocco and sophomore Tayler Peters shared the goalkeeping duties at the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invite. Peters started all four matches and Magliocco saw her first action of the season in the second half of the Michigan match.
Collegiate Water Polo Coaches Association weekly poll
| Team | Points |
| 1. Stanford | 98 |
| 2. UCLA | 96 |
| 3. USC | 94 |
| 4. Hawaii | 87 |
| 5. Arizona State | 82 |
| California | 82 |
| 7. Michigan | 75 |
| 8. San Jose State | 67 |
| UC Davis | 67 |
| 10. UC Irvine | 63 |
| 11. UC Santa Barbara | 62 |
| 12. Pacific | 54 |
| 13. Indiana | 52 |
| 14. Princeton | 49 |
| 15. Loyola Marymount | 41 |
| 16. Wagner | 36 |
| 17. Hartwick | 35 |
| 18. San Diego State | 34 |
| 19. UC San Diego | 32 |
| 20. Marist | 24 |
| 21. Harvard | 18 |
| 22. Long Beach State | 16 |
| 23. Cal Baptist | 14 |
| 24. CSU Bakersfield | 12 |
| 25. Iona | 4 |
| Cal State Northridge | 4 |