Feb. 26, 2017
Irvine, Calif.----- Pacific's Karolina Hlavata scored an even-strength goal with 4:36 remaining in the fourth quarter giving the Tigers a 7-6 win over San Jose State University in the ninth-place match of the 16-team Barbara Kalbus Invitational women's water polo tournament.
With the exception of a 4-3 lead for 16 seconds in the second quarter following a Sierra Painter goal, the Spartans (6-10) battled from behind the entire way. San Jose State trailed, 6-4, at the start of the fourth quarter, but rallied to a 6-6 tie on goals by Donia Momen, her team-high third of the match, and Klaudia Paradi with 5:46 to go.
McKenna Yates scored San Jose State's other goal, the team's first in the match with 50 seconds left in the first quarter to cut a 2-0 deficit in half.
Katelynn Thompson was credited with seven saves. Pacific's goalkeeper Alexis Hollinrake was credited with five saves.
The loss to #11-ranked Pacific was the second in seven days. The Tigers topped the Spartans, 9-6, on February 19 at the Aggie Shootout hosted by UC Davis.
"UOP converted more opportunities than we did," said San Jose State head coach Gabor Sarusi, who believed the Spartans had four excellent chances to tie the game late and possibly send it into overtime.
San Jose State, which defended opponents' power play well in wins over #15-Long Beach State and #9-UC Santa Barbara, yielded 1-of-6 power play goals to Pacific. In their last three matches, opponents are 3-of-25 in power play situations. Kyra Christmas of the Tigers also converted a 5-meter penalty shot in the third quarter for Pacific's 6-4 lead.
The Spartans were 2-of-6 on the power play. Momen scored both power play goals for San Jose State.
"This was a good tournament for us. We won a two matches against two good teams and we came together as a team," the Spartans coach said.
USC won the tournament that featured the top nine teams in the country.
San Jose State returns to action, Saturday, March 4, hosting UCLA, in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) opener for both teams. The match at West Valley College starts at 1:00 p.m. (PT).
San Jose State University women's water polo
Barbara Kalbus Invitational
Corona del Mar pool, Newport Beach, Calif.
February 26, 2017
| Ninth-place match | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #17-San Jose State (6-10) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| #11-Pacific (8-5) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Goal scoring |
| San Jose State -- Donia Momen, 3; McKenna Yates, Klaudia Paradi, Sierra Painter, 1, each. |
| Pacific -- Kyra Christmas, 3; Mariana Duarte, 2; Rachel Krieger, Karolina Hlavata, 1, each. |
| Goalkeeper saves |
| San Jose State -- Katelynn Thompson, 7. |
| Pacific -- Alexis Hollinrake, 5. |
| Ejections |
| San Jose State -- 7. |
| Pacific -- 6. |