IRVINE, Calif. — The No. 18 UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team (9-6) played their first game in two weeks on Friday, facing an undefeated No. 4 California (9-0) team in the opening match of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. Isabel Valaika, Molly Souza and Annie Kuester all found the back of the net, but the Gauchos fell, 17-3.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos kept the Golden Bears off the board for the first few minutes of the game and once Cal did score, Valaika answered two minutes later to tie things at one. However, after that point Cal made a big run and led 10-1 at the half.
 
Santa Barbara came out of the break much improved, playing their best quarter of water polo in the third. Defensively, they held the Golden Bears to just two goals and scored two of their own on offense, with Souza and Kuester each denting the twine to make the score 12-3 when the frame ended.
 
Unfortunately, the Gauchos were not able to capitalize on their momentum, with Cal going on to win, 17-3.
 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara will be back in the pool at 9:20 a.m. on Saturday, taking on No. 17 Indiana from Corona Del Mar High School in Corona Del Mar. Live stats will be available at ucsbgauchos.com/WWPLiveStats.