March 14, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - Four games into its first season of Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play, the No. 17 Arizona State water polo team (7-9, 1-3 MPSF) secured its first win as a member of the conference with a 13-4 defeat of Pacific (1-14, 0-6 MPSF) Sunday night at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe. Ten different Sun Devils tallied at least one goal in the contest as ASU snapped its five-game losing streak overall and three in a row in conference play.
The Sun Devils jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back as they turned their lead into a 7-2 advantage in the half. In the opening stanza, ASU got goals from Heather Rempfer (So., Lodi, Calif.), Kimberlee Stevens (So., Lodi, Calif.), Ashley Bower (Fr., Bondi Beach, Australia), Raelyn Ritchie (Fr., Newport Beach, Calif.) and Katie Hedley (Fr., Lake Forest, Calif.) to forge the early lead before Hedley and Adriane Mota (So., Long Beach, Calif.) each tallied in the second quarter.
Following the intermission, the Sun Devils pumped in another four goals, getting scores from Lauren Jacobson (Jr., League City, Texas), Gili Kollan (Jr., Kiriat Bialik, Israel), Rempfer and Tessa Wyborny (So., Walnut Creek, Calif.). Leading 11-4 heading into the final stanza, Katie Davis (Sr., Riverside, Calif.) and Stevens each scored to push the final advantage to 13-4. For the Tigers, Morgan Diehl led the way with two goals with getting help from Virginia McConnell and Amanda Tucker.
Along with the goals scored, 11 assists were recorded by Sun Devil players, including a team-high three from Davis. Hedley added two with solo assists from Ritchie, Bower, Jessica McDaniel (Fr., Modesto, Calif.), Mota, Elizabeth Houck (So., San Diego, Calif.) and Jennifer Sanderson (Jr., Walnut Creek, Calif.). Defensively, all three of ASU's goalies saw action with Sanderson stopping three shots in the first quarter while Houck stopped four and allowed four goals and Kristie Meyer (So., Reno, Nev.) recording two saves.
The win over the Tigers marks the second for the Sun Devils this season and pushes the advantage in the series to 4-1. Earlier in the year at the UC Davis Shootout, ASU handed UOP a 10-4 loss.
Arizona State hits the road next weekend with a March 21 contest at No. 4 Long Beach State starting at noon. The Sun Devils return home March 25 with a 6 p.m. contest against No. 7 California.