April 18, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - For the fourth time in as many tries this season, the No. 15 Arizona State water polo team closed out a tournament with a 2-2 record as the Sun Devils handed conference-foe Pacific an 8-6 defeat in the final game of the Long Beach Invitational in Long Beach, Calif., Sunday. With the win, the Sun Devils improved to 11-16 on the season with one regular season contest remaining on the slate.
The Sun Devils grabbed the early lead as the team tallied a pair of goals in the first quarter to the Tigers' one for a 2-1 lead. In the second quarter, the defense shut out UOP while the offense added two more scores to take a 4-1 lead at the intermission. Both teams were able to score three goals in the third stanza to bring the score to 7-4 in favor of the Sun Devils before the Tigers outscored ASU, 2-1, in the final period play for an 8-6 final.
Katie Davis (Sr., Riverside, Calif.) and Katie Hedley (Fr., Lake Forest, Calif.) each netted two goals in the win to cap impressive offensive outputs for the weekend. Davis scored at least one goal in each of the four games for a total of eight while Hedley, who scored in three of the four contests, totaled seven scores. Rounding out the scoring in the UOP game were Elaine Bentley (So., San Diego, Calif.), Ashley Bower (Fr., Bondi Beach, Australia), Holly Newman (So., San Diego, Calif.) and Raelyn Ritchie (Fr., Newport Beach, Calif.).
Davis also added a pair of assists with Lauren Jacobson (Jr., League City, Texas), Bower, Heather Rempfer (So., Lodi, Calif.), Tessa Wyborny (So., Walnut Creek, Calif.), Adriane Mota (So., Long Beach, Calif.) and Elizabeth Houck (So., San Diego, Calif.) each adding one helper. Houck also recorded five saves in the second half of play in the goal while starter Jennifer Sanderson (Jr., Walnut Creek, Calif.) tallied three saves in the first two quarters of play.
In 2004, the Sun Devils played four tournament with identical 2-2 records. The only difference in the tournaments was the way ASU built the 2-2 mark. At the Michigan Invitational (Jan. 24-25), ASU went 1-1 each day, opening with a loss before winning the closing game. At the UC San Diego Invitational (Feb. 7-8), the Sun Devils went 0-2 on day one before roaring back with two wins on the final day of play. At the UC Davis Shootout, ASU reversed its fortunes with two wins on the first day of play before falling in both of the second day's games.
The Sun Devils close out the regular season next weekend with a 1 p.m. April 24 contest at No. 16 UC Irvine. One weekend later, Arizona State heads to Los Alomitos, Calif., for the 2004 MPSF Tournament April 30-May 2. The tournament is the first for the Sun Devils as a member of the conference.