DAVIS, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific University women's water polo team opened their season at UC Davis for the Aggie Invite on Saturday. Amy Zaninovich scored five goals and had two steals on the day, but the Sunbirds fell to CSU East Bay and host UC Davis. 

QUOTABLE
"I thought the day went well. We have a lot of maturing to do as a team though. We didn't come out as strong as we would have like against East Bay, but against Davis we did better. It's going to be a game by game process for us this season. We have a lot to figure out as a team. Today was a good start and showed us a lot we need to improve on. The girls were better at the end of the day than we were my this morning. That's what we want to see. Improvement each game." - head coach Bryan Suhovy. 

 GAME 1
 HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Pioneers got on the board first before Yvonne Orser answered with the first goal of the season for the Sunbirds.
• The Pioneers went on a 5-0 run that lasted the majority of the first quarter. 
• Katie Bloom and Rosemary Chapman found the back of the net in the final minute of the first period. 
• Emily Lopez-Ibarra and Zaninovich scored early in the second quarter, as the team trailed 9-5. 
• The Pioneers went on a 6-0 run to close out the first half and carried a 15-5 lead into halftime. 
• The Birds matched the Pioneers in the second half with five goals each. 
• Tatum Benson found the back of the net twice in the third quarter. 
• Chapman, Zaninovich, and Lopez-Ibarra each scored their second goal of the game in the fourth quarter. 

STATS FROM THE MATCH

• Benson, Chapman, Lopez-Ibarra, and Zaninovich scored two goals each for the Sunbirds. 
• Jet Salazar-Lopez made six saves in 32 minutes in goal for the FPU. 

GAME 2
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Zaninovich scored two goals in the opening quarter against the Aggies, but the host school went up 6-2 at the end of the period. 
• The offense ran through Bella Alcazar in the second quarter, as she scored twice during that time. 
• FPU trailed UC Davis 13-4 at halftime. 
• Zaninovich scored the final goal of the day for the Sunbirds, as the Aggies went on to take it 18-5. 

STATS FROM THE MATCH

• Zaninovich led the Birds with three goals. 
• Camryn Berra was in goal against the Aggies, making nine saves during the match. 

UP NEXT

• The Sunbirds travel to Riverside, Calif. to take part in the California Baptist Tournament on Jan. 29. The Sunbirds take on Redlands at 8 a.m. followed by a match against UC Santa Barbara at 2:15 p.m. 

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