By Esteban Ramirez
Sports Editor
Despite having a much-improved performance against number-seventh ranked Arizona State University, the CSU Bakersfield women’s water polo team still lost 10-5 to the Sundevils in its home opener at Hillman Aquatics Complex on March 7.
CSUB (11-9, 0-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) met ASU back in Jan. 25 when the Roadrunners suffered a tough 19-6 loss to the Sundevils. This time around CSUB managed to keep it close only being down 2-1 after the first period, but a 2-0 second period for ASU gave the Sundevils the cushion they needed to get their first MPSF conference win.
“I thought we did pretty well,” CSUB coach Jason Gall said. “We played ASU about five weeks ago and in the first quarter we were losing 6-1, so it was a much better start for us. I thought our defense played better and our effort was better.
“We had a lot of offensive opportunities that we didn’t convert on, but even though we lost, they are the number seven team in the country. I also think we can still gain some confidence from some of the things we did against them defensively and offensively. I thought it was better than the last time we played them.”
The Roadrunners got scores from five different players: redshirt-sophomore driver Nicola Barrett, junior utility Niki De Leon, redshirt-senior utility Bridgette Souza, freshman utility Jada Helberg and sophomore driver Katie Benson. CSUB junior goalkeeper Brittany Tyra finished with 11 saves.
“We came up with some good goalie blocks, we had some good defensive steals and good help defenses,” Gall said. “We created a lot of good scoring opportunities, but we just didn’t put the ball in the cage. There were definitely a lot of good things that we could take away from this game.”
Gall added that he wants the team to continue to trust in its abilities.
“I want them to have more confidence in their abilities, to keep developing the chemistry and we just need to execute more on offense,” he said.
CSUB will host a tri-dual on March 11 at the Hillman Aquatics Complex. It will start at 9:30 a.m. when CSUB plays against Wagner College and will face off against Azusa Pacific University at 4:30 p.m.
