April 18, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - The second day of the Long Beach Invitational got off to a tough start as the No. 16 Arizona State water polo team was handed a 12-6 defeat by host and No. 4 Long Beach State Sunday in Long Beach, Calif. The loss pushed the Sun Devils' record to 10-16 overall on the season with a 2-8 mark in the MPSF following the non-conference affair.
The 49ers jumped to an early lead with four goals in each of the first two quarters of play to stake themselves to an 8-3 halftime advantage. The Sun Devils would allow three goals in the third quarter while scoring one of their own to bring the score to 11-4 before ASU outscored the hosts in the final stanza, 2-1, to bring the final to 12-6.
Offensively, Katie Hedley (Fr., Lake Forest, Calif.) recorded her third three-goal game of the season with each of the three coming against Top 4 teams. Hedley earlier this season tallied a hat-trick at home against No. 4 San Diego State before netting a trio of goals in a road loss at No. 3 UCLA two weeks ago. Also adding goals in the contest with the 49ers were single scores from Elaine Bentley (So., San Diego, Calif.), Katie Davis (Sr., Riverside, Calif.) and Raelyn Ritchie (Fr., Newport Beach, Calif.). Hedley joined Davis, Jessica McDaniel (Fr., Modesto, Calif.), Tessa Wyborny (So., Walnut Creek, Calif.) and Adriane Mota (So., Long Beach, Calif.) with assists on the day.
In the nets, Jennifer Sanderson (Jr., Walnut Creek, Calif.) played the first three quarters of the game and recorded four saves one game removed from her school-record performance of 19 saves against No. 6 Hawaii on Saturday. Elizabeth Houck (So., San Diego, Calif.) closed out the goalie duties in the fourth quarter with two saves.
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.