FRESNO, Calif. — The Santa Clara University women's water polo team is off to its best start in nine years after winning its second consecutive game Saturday to start the season, this time beating Fresno Pacific, 14-10, at Sanger High School.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Senior driver Kate Rodman was all over the pool Saturday for the Broncos (2-0). She led Santa Clara with four goals, three assists and three steals. She also won two sprints to give the Broncos the ball starting both the first and second periods. Libby Slater was Santa Clara's other multi-goal scorer, tallying three to go with two assists and a drawn exclusion.
   
• Saturday's win marked the Broncos' first 2-0 start to a season since 2016, when they also beat Cal State Monterey Bay to start the year (as they did on Jan. 25 this season) before beating Cal State East Bay the following weekend. Santa Clara has scored more total goals (32) in this 2-0 start than it did in 2016 (30).
   
• Seven other Broncos tallied single goals Saturday: Megan Chambliss, Sophia Harvey, Lia Lakis, Evelyn McLaughlin, Francesca Moynihan, Avary Torres and Airi Seib. Harvey, McLaughlin, Moynihan and Seib each added assists to go with their goals. The Broncos totaled 13 assists on their 14 goals.
   
• The SCU offense stepped up in the second quarter after a deadlocked, 2-2 first period. Santa Clara scored five goals in the second while limiting Fresno Pacific (1-3) to only three, giving it a 7-5 advantage at halftime. The defensive momentum continued to grow in the third period when Santa Clara held FPU to only one goal while scoring three of its own to grow the lead to 10-6. The Broncos' defense totaled eight steals and four field blocks on the day. SCU Goalkeeper Haley Tassell totaled nine saves, including five in that defensive third period.

COMING UP

• Santa Clara returns to the South Bay Sunday to face crosstown rival San Jose State for the first time since 2023. The game is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.