For the coaching staff and eight players of Harvard women’s water polo, the annual trip to California returns them to their home state. But while the Golden State represents home for a majority of the team, it also holds some of the toughest competition the women will face this season.

With only two games left in its seven-game tour through California, the Crimson (10-7, 1-0 CWPA) stands 2-3 for the week. Two of Harvard’s losses came at the hands of ranked teams and the third stemmed from a one-goal defeat, facts that provided the Crimson with many lessons.

“All the teams have played really differently, so you really have to minimize mistakes,” freshman Jamie Williams said. “We’re taking every game one game at a time. We’ve been really building as a team this week.”

SAN JOSE STATE 8, HARVARD 5

Harvard faced its second ranked opponent of the week in No. 9 San Jose State (15-8) on Wednesday.

Although the homecoming was pleasant for Harvard coach and Spartan alumnus Ted Minnis, the 8-5 loss to his alma matter made it an overall bittersweet experience.

The Crimson was able to fight with San Jose State for the opening three quarters, only trailing 4-3 going into the fourth. But, four Spartan goals in the closing frame put victory out of Harvard’s reach.

“Although they may have won and pulled away, we showed really well as a team that we can play with any team,” sophomore attacker Aisha Price said. “We’re all very happy with how we played, even though we lost.”

UC DAVIS 13, HARVARD 5

A sluggish offense against No. 15 UC Davis (12-6) led to the Crimson’s widest defeat of the week so far.

Although Harvard was able to compete with San Jose State on Wednesday, the exhaustion of four games in two days weighed heavily on the Crimson, who consistently trailed by a significant margin to the Aggies on Monday.

“We learned a lot of lessons in that game, and it showed two days later when we played San Jose State,” Price said.

HARVARD 11, FRESNO PACIFIC 9

On Monday, Harvard preceded its loss to UC Davis with an 11-9 comeback victory over Fresno Pacific (5-11). The Crimson’s forceful offense was led by a stand-out performance from sophomore 2-meter guard Elise Molnar, who scored three goals and had four of Harvard’s 10 steals.

The Crimson trailed by four goals as late as midway through the third quarter, but a stronger team effort changed the dynamic of the game.

“I think we had to exercise ball control and show a little bit more patience on the clock,” Price said. “It was a really good team effort—people really stepped up to put balls in the net.”

The extra patience and additional defensive adjustments boosted Harvard’s performance and allowed the Crimson to run away on an 8-2 streak to defeat the Sunbirds by a narrow margin.

CSU MONTEREY BAY 12, HARVARD 11

A last-minute goal from Monterey Bay (11-4) stymied the attempt at a second comeback win for Harvard on Sunday evening.

The Crimson managed to knot up the score at 11 after having trailed by as much as four goals in the first half.

A 3-1 run in the third frame helped put Harvard within reach of a victory, but the Otters’ speed proved too much for the Crimson, who was unable to take a lead.

HARVARD 8, SANTA CLARA 7

Harvard debuted in California with a triumph over Santa Clara (8-12) and this time saw itself on the winning end of a one-goal game.

After knotting the score at two early in the opening series, the Broncos shifted their play into a higher gear, sprinting ahead on a three-goal run to close the first half.

“We just had to get our head on straight,” Williams said. “You can’t think in the past. It’s all about now… and so we did a better job in the second half. You just have to look forward and know you can play better.”

The Crimson quickly turned around its luck and responded with a three-goal run of its own in the third quarter.

After battling point-for-point throughout the fourth, junior attacker Monica Zdrojewski finished off Santa Clara with a final goal in the last 17 seconds of play.

“I think the Santa Clara game was a really good win for us,” Price said. "We were able to set up well as a team, and it helped us set up for the rest of our games for the rest of the week.”