STOCKTON, Calif. – Fresno Pacific opened play at the Golden Coast Conference (GCC) Championships Thursday and fell to host and #15 Pacific, 14-5, at Chris Kjeldsen Pool. The seventh-seeded Sunbirds battled early before the second-seeded Tigers, winners of nine straight, used a pair of runs in the second and fourth quarters to earn the quarterfinal win.

"The women played tough to a strong UOP team," said head coach Bryan Suhovy. "We had a much stronger showing in this game than a few weeks ago. I was happy with our performance overall. Our underclassmen got a lot of minutes and experience, which was important. We have set ourselves up for a strong game against Santa Clara tomorrow."

FPU (7-23) moves into the consolation bracket following the setback and will face SCU tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. The sixth-seeded Broncos fell to third-seeded Loyola Marymount in the opener of the tournament, 13-10.
 
The Sunbirds used a balanced attack offensively, as Kaeli Hanson, Mikayla Scheer, Emily Knowles, Samantha Clark and Julia Ponce scored a goal apiece. FPU dished out four assists on the five scores and moved the ball effectively. Kaitlin Fletcher, Alyssa Stevens, Hannah Holly and Ponce tallied a dime apiece. 

Kelsie Harvey led the charge defensively with 12 saves and one steal in three quarters, while Courtney Hall made four blocks in the final period. Mallory Rettig and Nia Apodaca added two steals for the Sunbirds, while Mikayla Scheer, Stevens and Ponce amassed one theft each.
 
Hanson opened the scoring two minutes into the game to put FPU ahead 1-0. The Tigers responded with a 4-0 scoring run, however, to earn a lead they wouldn't relinquish. The Sunbirds cut the Pacific lead to 4-2 in the middle of the second quarter, but wouldn't come any closer. FPU trailed 7-2 at the intermission.
 
The Sunbirds continued to battle into the third period and used back-to-back scores from Clark and Knowles to make the score 8-4, but UOP put to rest any thoughts of an FPU comeback with a five-goal final period.
 
Michele Relton led Pacific with 15 saves.
 
The Tigers (15-9) move into the semifinals and will face #17 LMU at 1:30 p.m.