Feb. 24, 2018
Newport Beach, Calif.----- Guara Garcia Delgado scored for San Jose State University with 1:10 remaining in the fourth quarter for an 8-7 victory over CSUN in the Spartans' nightcap of a doubleheader in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational women's water polo tournament.
The win was San Jose State's first in three tournament matches and ended a six-match losing streak, four of them to top-10 ranked teams nationally.
In the win over #19-ranked CSUN (7-8), the Spartans gave up their fewest goals in a match since a 6-5 win over #22-Fresno State on January 27. A sign that San Jose State's defense was going to be effective on the second day of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational was yielding only nine goals in a 9-6 loss to #15-UC San Diego in the morning opener.
"Our defense was much better today, in both games, specifically our 2-meter defense," said San Jose State head Gabor Sarusi, who felt the team's power-play defense was effective, too.
San Jose State broke a 3-3 third quarter tie with the Matadors on a power-play goal by Kathryn Elgin, her second of the contest and her first two scores of the season. Sheila Jensen's third goal of the match gave the Spartans their biggest lead of the contest, 7-4, with 7:29 remaining in the match.
A Madeleine Sanchez power-play score for CSUN tied the score at 7-7 with 3:15 to go prior to Garcia Delgado's game winner.
"It was off of a counter attack. (Guara) took a cross pass from Jordan (Milich-Misikini)," Sarusi said of the play leading up to Garcia Delgado's second goal of the match and the win.
"We had some tough games earlier. It's nice to be on a winning side of a close game."
In the opener, UC San Diego never trailed. The Tritons had a 3-0 lead after one quarter, but the Spartans tied the score at 3-3 on Jensen's second goal of the second quarter. UC San Diego's Taylor Onstott broke the tie with an even strength goal and the Tritons never relinquished the lead the rest of the way.
San Jose State concludes its action in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational Sunday, February 25 with a 10:15 a.m. (PT) match with #19-Long Beach State (2-8).
San Jose State University women's water polo
Barbara Kalbus Invitational
Corona del Mar Pool, Newport Beach, Calif.
February 24, 2018
| Match #23 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #19-CSUN (7-8) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| #18-San Jose State (3-8) | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Goal scoring |
| CSUN -- Madeliene Sanchez, 3; Madasonne Butler, Shannon Hovanesian, Emma Franck, Amy Yule, 1, each. |
| San Jose State -- Sheila Jensen, 3; Guara Garcia Delgado, Kathryn Elgin, 2, each; Lili Urvari, 1. |
| Goalkeeper saves |
| CSUN -- Nathalie Brewster, 5. |
| San Jose State -- Tayler Peters, 6. |
| Ejections |
| CSUN -- 6 |
| San Jose State -- 11 |
| Match #16 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #18-San Jose State (2-8) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| #15-UC San Diego (8-8) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Goal scoring |
| San Jose State -- Sheila Jensen, Guara Garcia Delgado, 2, each; Klaudia Paradi, Jordan Milich-Misikini, 1, each. |
| UC San Diego -- Kalya Fedler, 4; Shelby Stender, Krista Schneider, Jessee Ransome, Grace Pevehouse, Taylor Onstott, 1, each. |
| Goalkeeper saves |
| San Jose State -- Katelynn Thompson, 7. |
| UC San Diego -- Bennett Bugelli, 7. |
| Ejections |
| San Jose State -- 9. |
| UC San Diego -- 8. |