Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific Women's Water Polo team opened the 2015 season with an exhibition contest against the China senior women's national team on Wednesday afternoon at Chris Kjeldsen Pool. China took a 13-6 victory in the friendly.
China, the 2013 World League Champions and No. 2 ranked FINA squad, is on a tour of Northern California and is participating in exhibitions throughout the region this week.
The Tigers scored in the first quarter as freshman Aelish Guinn connected past China goalkeeper Yang Jun and added a second quarter goal from senior Brydie Pye, who got a one-timer into the back of the cage.
Later in the contest, junior Gracie Smith made a strong power move to beat a triple-team on a chip shot that was tipped by a Chinese defender and trickled over the head of Jun for a score. Newcomer Anna Kertes, a senior transfer from Arizona State, connected in the third quarter before freshman Rachel Krieger and Kertes added goals late in the final period.
China was led by 2012 Olympian Sun Yujun and Zhao Zihan, as each recorded a hat trick.
For Pacific, Michele Relton was a standout in goal, stopping 13 shots. For China, Olympian Yang Jun and Peng Ling split time in goal, recording seven and five saves, respectively.
Pacific will kick off its regular season slate on Saturday at the San Jose State Spartan Invite. The Tigers will face defending national champion Stanford (9:20 am) and the hosts Spartans (4:00 pm) on Saturday before returning to face Cal State Monterey Bay (12:40 pm) and an exhibition against the Brazilian national team (3:20 pm) on Sunday.
The Tigers open up the home portion of the regular season schedule against the California Golden Bears on Feb. 7 at 6:00 pm under the lights at Chris Kjeldsen Pool.
