DAVIS, Calif. – Dillon Robinson's 23 saves and Fresno Pacific's big second half powered the Sunbirds to an upset of #17 San Jose State, 11-8, on Saturday at the Aggie Roundup. FPU also defeated Redlands, 11-10, earlier in the day to finish 2-0 at the roundup hosted by UC Davis.

"I am proud of the heart these guys showed today," said head coach Bryan Suhovy. "We found ourselves chasing most of the game against San Jose State and it wasn't until the second half that we pulled ahead. The guys played extremely hard until the final horn and they had nothing left in the tank when it was over. Dillon really led the charge in goal, giving the guys the energy to fight on offense."
 
The Sunbirds and the Spartans played a close first half as SJSU held a slim 6-5 advantage at the intermission. FPU then exploded in the third quarter for five goals to take control of the match. Kyle Eoff started a 3-0 scoring run in the final four minutes of the third period, as the Sunbirds jumped ahead 11-8 at the end of three. FPU then finished off the victory behind a stellar performance from Robinson in the cage in the final minutes.
 
David Maes led all scorers with four goals, while Eoff added two for FPU. Taylor Heckathorn, Steven Kaufmann, Garrett Pickford, Jamison Shapland and Kyle Madel rounded out the balanced scoring attack with a goal apiece. Erik Brown added two assists for the Sunbirds on offense.
 
Robinson was a wall in goal, as the 23 saves were just short of his career high of 25 set in 2014. He faced 38 total shots and held SJSU to an 0-for-7 mark on power plays.
 
Ben Hauschild and Finn Pardon led the Spartans with two goals apiece.
 
In the earlier match, FPU jumped out to a quick start and held on in the second half to earn the win over Redlands. The Sunbirds scored seven times in the first two quarters, including four in the first. Maes, Kaufmann and Eoff opened the game with consecutive goals to set the tone. Leading 7-4 at halftime, the Sunbirds used four second-half goals to eventually earn the 11-10 win.
 
Maes led the Sunbirds with five goals, while Pickford and Eoff added two apiece. Kaufmann and Madel scored the last two goals with one each. Pickford facilitated the offense with four assists, while Brown added two. Robinson amassed five saves in the cage for the Sunbirds.
 
Billy Clifford scored three times for Redlands, while Chris Sekula added 11 saves in goal.

"Today was a great day of water polo for us," said Suhovy. "We knew going in that these were two tough teams. The guys were focused, determined and ready to leave it all in the water. Coming off the loss Thursday, we made it one of our goals to improve our power-play stats. It was a night and day difference in how we played. We moved the ball better, communicated better and trusted our systems. This is just the beginning and we have a lot of work ahead of us."

FPU jumps back into Western Water Polo Association play this week with two matches. The Sunbirds travel to UC San Diego on Friday before facing Loyola Marymount on Saturday in Los Angeles.