RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team made it three straight wins over ranked opponents on Saturday at California Baptist's Joust tournament, taking down No. 18 San Jose State, 10-9, and No. 25 Biola, 20-5. Annie Kuester led the Gauchos with a five-goal game against the Spartans, while freshman Isabel Valaika's four goals led Santa Barbara in the afternoon contest against the Eagles.
 
FROM HEAD COACH SERELA KAY
"The team improved throughout both games as a whole," Kay said. "I'm excited to continue to see the growth next weekend in San Diego."
 
"(Annie) Kuester was all over the place with scoring, steals, assists and shutting down whoever she matched up on."
 
NO. 12 UC SANTA BARBARA 10, NO. 18 SAN JOSE STATE 9
After falling behind, 2-0, in the first quarter, the Gauchos rallied to make things close, scoring four times in the second frame. Juju Amaral's two powerplay goals complemented Kuester's two, with the former scoring just 17 seconds before the buzzer. It would have sent the teams into the break tied, but the Spartans went back ahead with five seconds to play.
 
Each side tallied two goals in the third quarter, maintaining San Jose State's lead, but the Gauchos pulled ahead for good in the fourth. Kuester's fifth goal of the contest tied things at nine, then Leigh Lyter provided the decisive score with 3:46 left to play. From there, Madison Walker and the Gaucho defense held the Spartans off the board to complete the comeback.
 
NO. 12 UC SANTA BARBARA 20, NO. 25 BIOLA 5
The Gauchos jumped out to an early lead and never looked back against the Eagles. Valaika fired home the first of her four goals to open the scoring, and Amaral and Lyter added on to get Santa Barbara on a roll. The Gauchos led, 9-3, at halftime, ending the first half on a 4-0 scoring run.
 
Kuester scored early to start the second half, kicking off a third quarter in which Santa Barbara out-scored Biola 6-2. Valaika completed her hat-trick midway through the third quarter, then added a fourth two seconds before the quarter ended. The Gaucho defense blanked Biola in the final frame to secure the win, and the offense added five more goals at the other end to ice things.
 
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will head to La Jolla next weekend for UC San Diego's Triton Invitational, Feb. 2-4. The Gauchos have been drawn in Group A with No. 1 USC, No. 11 Michigan and Concordia Irvine. Santa Barbara will open the weekend with an 8 a.m. faceoff against the Wolverines on Friday.