LEWISBURG, Pa. – Looking for a good start to the 2016 season, the VMI water polo team split its first day of competition at the Bison Invitational by defeating Penn State Behrend by a 17-0 score before falling to No. 15 Princeton, 18-4, Saturday in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

The win over Penn State Behrend marked VMI's second ever shutout victory after accomplishing the feat last season when the Keydets blanked Macalester by a 16-0 score. The 17-point margin of victory was also the team's widest since defeating Caltech last season by a 22-4 score in California.

Sophomores Shelby Barkley and Sophia DelBondio led the way for the Keydets against the Lions by scoring three goals apiece while Cecilya Lundy, Caroline Wojtas, Bailey Huddleston, Sarah Dolitsky and Natalie Rivas each contributed a pair. Freshman Madison Curran added another goal for the final tally.

VMI jumped to a 6-0 lead after the first quarter following two strikes from DelBondio and Rivas to set the tone early. Lundy put in her two goals in the second period as the Keydets ballooned the lead to 11-0 by halftime. Barkley scored one goal apiece in each of the first three quarters.

vs. No. 15 Princeton

Facing a nationally ranked opponent, the Keydets battled throughout the match but fell by an 18-4 score to the No. 15-ranked Tigers of Princeton. The Tiger defense was effective in breaking down the VMI attack as the Keydets struggled to get shots off while the Princeton attackers built and 5-0 lead after one quarter and 9-1 advantage by the half.

DelBondio scored VMI's first goal of the game with 1:19 left in the second quarter while Rivas added another in the third period at the 3:56 mark. DelBondio and Barkley each scored second-half goals in the Keydet loss.

VMI returns to action in the pool Sunday as the Keydets will face George Washington (11 a.m.) and host No. 25 Bucknell (2 p.m.).