LA JOLLA, Calif. - The No. 15 CSUB water polo team dropped the first game of the UC San Diego Tournament on Saturday afternoon to No. 8 Michigan, 12?10 in overtime but came back to win a thrilling come from behind victory over No. 20 UC Santa Barbara in the afternoon session, 12?11. The ?Runners are now 5?2 on the season heading into the second day of the tournament tomorrow.
Against Michigan, Alyson Moss led the way with four goals while Petra Koudelkova added three. Amanda Ortiz added two goals while Katherine Gillett had one. The ?Runners held a slime 6?5 halftime advantage. The game remained close throughout with neither team able to pull away from another as the game headed into extra time. Michigan would score two goals in the first extra session and added an insurance marker in the second to win, 12?10. Veronica Campbell had nine blocks in the game.
“We made a few mistakes down the stretch against Michigan,” said Head Coach Jason Gall. “Overall though I was very happy with the effort our team showed against a tough ranked opponent.”
CSUB would find itself down early to UC Santa Barbara as the ?Runners were forced to fight uphill the entire contest. Down 10?6 with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter, the ?Runners would score three unanswered to pull within one. The Gauchos would score in the fourth to make it 11?9 before CSUB went on a late-game run. With 3:05 remaining, Becky Seelos scored to make it 11?10. Less than a minute later at 2:20, Koudelkova scored to knot the game at 11?11. As the clock ticked further down, Ortiz scored with 11 seconds remaining to give the ?Runners the lead and the victory, 12?11. Ortiz finished with a game-high four goals while Seelos added three. Moss and Koudelkova added a pair of strikes and Katherine Gillett had one. Campbell had four blocks and two steals.
The action begins again tomorrow as the ?Runners take on Santa Clara at 11:45 a.m. The winner of that game takes on the winner of the Marist vs. Hartwick match for ninth place.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | Final |
| No 8 Michigan | 3
| 2
| 2
| 2 | 2
| 1
| 12 |
No. 15 CSU Bakersfield
| 3
| 3
| 1
| 2
| 0
| 1
| 10 |
Goals:
CSUB ? Katherine Gillett (1), Amanda Ortiz (2), Alyson Moss (4), Petra Koudelkova (3).
| 1 | 2
| 3 | 4 | Final |
No. 20 UC Santa Barbara
| 4
| 3
| 3
| 1 | 11
|
No. 15 CSU Bakersfield
| 3 | 1
| 5
| 3
| 12
|
Goals:
CSUB - Katherine Gillett (1), Amanda Ortiz (4), Becky Seelos (3), Alyson Moss (2), Petra Koudelkova (2).
