FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno Pacific opened their second season at home going 1-3 on the weekend, defeating UC Irvine's club team 16-9, but falling to Cal Poly's club team 8-11 and Central Valley's club team 11-16.

Yulia Blinovskya led the Sunbirds with 11 goals on the weekend, seven of which came against Central Valley.  Jennifer Diebert and Blinovskya both had two goals against Cal Poly, and Borbala Toth and Marissa Nunez both had three goals to lead the Sunbirds in their victory against Irvine.

Toth finished the weekend with six goals, Nunez four goals and Diebert three goals.  Katelyn Ball also finished with three goals, while Brittany Guerrero, Jen Wolter and Melissa Perry all put in two apiece.  Deborah Wall got a goal against Irvine to round off the Sunbird scorers.

The Sunbirds started the day with a tight match against Cal Poly, and found their rhythm against UC Irvine blowing them out in the second quarter 6-1.  However, the Sunbirds ran out of gas against Central Valley with only 20 minutes between games.  Their final game was tied 4-4 at the end of the first quarter and 8-8 at halftime, but Central Valley opened up a lead in the third outscoring the Sunbirds 5-1.

Coach Brian Suhovy commented on their opening games, “I'm happy with how we played. It was a good opening weekend.”  He continued, “I think the girls know where they have to go from here.”

The Sunbirds travel for their next tournament in Fort Collins, Colorado.  The Sunbirds will make the trip to Colorado State February 6-8.