IRVINE, Calif. - Karolina Hlavata scored the game-winner as the No. 11 Pacific women's water polo team defeated No. 17 San Jose State 7-6 in the ninth-place game of the 2017 Barbara Kalbus Invitational at UC Irvine Sunday.
Kyra Christmas tallied a hat trick, while Mariana Duarte added two goals and Rachel Krieger one.
Alexis Hollinrake posted six saves in goal as Pacific finished the 16-team tournament with a 3-1 record. All 16 teams entered the tourney ranked in the Top 22 of the polls, including the top nine.
Katelynn Thompson made eight saves for San Jose State.
Duarte scored 1:05 into the match, off an assist from Christmas, and Krieger converted on a 6-on-5 power play for a 2-0 Pacific lead. McKenna Yates got the Spartans on the board late in the first quarter with 50 seconds left, and tied the game at 2-2 on a Donia Momen power-play goal with 15 seconds left.
In the second, Duarte struck again for a 3-2 Tiger advantage. But Momen tallied on a San Jose State 6-on-5 to tie it up. The Spartans took their first lead on goal from Sierra Painter before Christmas answered right back off a Duarte assist to tie the game at 4-4.
Christmas scored to open the third on an assist from Viktoria Szmodics as the Tigers took the lead once more, at 5-4. Krieger drew a five-meter penalty with 45 seconds to go in the third, and Christmas polished off the shot for a 6-4 Pacific advantage headed into the fourth.
Momen tallied her third for the Spartans in the fourth, cutting the margin to 6-5. Klaudia Paradi tied the game at the 5:46 mark for San Jose State, but Hlavata answered back with a go-ahead goal at the 4:36 mark for a 7-6 lead off an assist from Duarte.
Hollinrake made one save in the final two possessions for the Spartans, with the Tiger defense posing a field block on Momen on the Spartans' last attempt to tie the game.
The Tigers improve to 8-5 on the season, having won six of the last seven. San Jose State falls to 6-10.
Pacific will head to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for a tournament March 4-5. The Tigers will face No. 5 Arizona State, No. 13 UC Davis, No. 18 Hartwick and No. 6 UC Irvine.
