No. 13 San Jose State women’s water polo team fell short this past Sunday against No. 1 University of Southern California 15 to 11. 

This was the Spartans (5-11, MWC 0-2) first home game since Jan. 18 after playing their previous 12 games on the road.

Before the game against USC (12-1, PAC-12 1-0), head coach Beth Harberts was presented with a game ball for her first win as coach which was against Sonoma State on Jan. 18.

“I always have a little anxiety when the energy is on me but I appreciate it because I accept it on behalf of the team,” Harberts said. “I think the team has really come together as a unit and really respect[s]
each other.”

The game started with senior two-meter
Jacqui Maisey scoring the first goal, which was the only lead over USC at any point in the game.

The game soon became one-sided as USC was winning 6-2 after the first quarter including three goals in a row without an SJSU reponse.

“I thought that we were really prepared because we were really focused on the little things,” Harberts said. “I think when you come out and you know you’re playing the number one ranked team in the country, you kind of come out with a little reservation and I think we did that in the first
quarter.”

Utility sophomore Olga Descalzi Portell scored twice in the second quarter but it was in vain as the Trojans closed out the quarter with a lead of 10-5.

“I feel like this year we’re working more towards not being beaten by a lot,” Portell said.

The Spartans would close the gap with three power plays in the fourth quarter with junior two-meter Tyanna Supreme scoring two of them and senior driver Lili Urvari scoring the other.

Supreme would score again on a power play to get her goal tally to 3 on the game.

“My freshman year when we played USC for the first time we lost 24-1,” Supreme said. “Here, it’s been a lot more tactical. In the fall we put a lot of focus on our basic skills. Which we’ve never really focused on before and I think it’s making a lot of difference come the season and game time.”

Despite the defeat, the team was not discouraged by the outcome as they saw the silver lining in playing the No. 1 ranked water polo team in the country.

“When we meet these top programs we have to have discipline and we have to have discipline in our task-oriented goals,” Harberts said. “We can still play well and not come out with the win. So that is what we are really trying to focus on is
those goals.”

The Spartans will continue their home stand as they host Arizona State University Saturday.

“We’ve already seen them once this season so we got some good data on them,” Harberts said. “So it’s going to be another fun game.”