THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Fresno Pacific suffered a pair of setbacks on the final day of the Tina Finali Invitational Saturday to D1 Villanova, 6-5, and Pomona-Pitzer, 9-7. Senior Kelsie Harvey led the Sunbirds with 27 saves in the cage and sits five short of 1,000 career blocks after the pair of defeats.

FPU moves to 4-10 overall and finishes the Invitational at 2-2.

"All in all it was a good weekend of water polo," said head coach Bryan Suhovy. "The girls showed a lot of fight and growth throughout their four games. I was happy with our performance, but we continue to set our sights on our goals and improvements."

The Sunbirds jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead in the opener against Villanova. The Wildcats answered, however, with a 4-0 the next two periods to earn an advantage. FPU tallied a final score in the fourth, but couldn't find the equalizer to fall 6-5.

Emily Marr led FPU with a pair of scores, while Mallory Rettig, Alyssa Stevens and Hannah Holly added one goal apiece. Rettig and Stevens each recorded an assist.

Harvey finished with 15 saves in the loss, which included a penalty block.

In the nightcap, the Sunbirds fell behind early before a late comeback fell just short against Pomona-Pitzer. FPU trailed 6-3 at the intermission and 8-3 after three periods. The Sunbirds stormed back with four goals in the final frame, but it proved too little too late in the 9-7 setback.

Julia Ponce led the charge offensively with a career-high four scores for FPU. Kaeli Hanson, Marr and Stevens rounded out the scoring with one goal apiece. Nia Apodaca dished out a team-high two assists.

Harvey amassed 12 saves in the cage for the Sunbirds. She added two steals and an assist.

FPU is back in action next weekend at the Pomona-Pitzer tournament on March 6-7.

Sunbird Notes
Kelsie Harvey is the school's all-time leader in saves (995) and is closing in on 1,000 career blocks…the senior also ranks third in steals (146)…Courtney Hall ranks fifth all-time in saves (92)…Mallory Rettig sits in sixth in career assists (49) and Alyssa Stevens ranks tied for seventh (42)…Rettig also ranks sixth in steals (110)…Emily Marr ranks ninth in goals (75)…Nia Apodaca is tied for seventh in assists (42) and seventh in steals (83).