April 30, 2004
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - The No. 17 Arizona State water polo team played its first game in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships Friday, but could not overcome the scoring of No. 8 California as the Sun Devils dropped a 14-7 decision in the first round of the tournament Saturday. The Sun Devils (11-18), seeded 11th in the tournament being held at the Joint Forces Training Facility in Los Alamitos, Calif., got goals from four different players while Cal (15-11) got goals from 11 different players.
The game opened with Cal posting two quick goals before Katie Hedley (Fr., Lake Forest, Calif.) notched the first of her four scores on the day. Nearly two minutes later, the Sun Devils tied the game with Kimberlee Stevens (So., Lodi, Calif.) finding the back of the net with the team on the advantage. ASU took the lead with Hedley moving in close and lobbing a shot in for the score. Cal tied it with 24 seconds remaining in the quarter, bringing it to three all.
For the second quarter in a row, both teams combined to tally another six goals with Cal scoring four to ASU's two. After the Golden Bears opened the quarter with a goal, Raelyn Ritchie (Fr., Newport Beach, Calif.) scored on a breakaway from 2-meters out to tie the game at four. From there, Cal added two scores before Hedley recorded the hat trick with 2:02 remaining in the half. But with 44 seconds prior to the intermission, the Golden Bears tallied again for a 7-5 halftime lead.
Leading by two, the Golden Bears opened the third stanza with two quick scores to increase their lead before Hedley tallied her fourth goal to halt the Cal attack. Less than one minute later, Katie Davis (Sr., Riverside, Calif.) scored on a tip play to bring the Sun Devils back to within two scores before a Cal 4-meter goal with 30 seconds remaining for a 10-7 lead. In the final quarter, the Golden Bears added four goals and shutout the Sun Devils for the win.
Ritchie, Ashely Bower (Fr., Bondi Beach, Australia), Elaine Bentley (So., San Diego, Calif.) and Adriane Mota (So., Long Beach, Calif.) each posted one assist in the game while Stevens added two helpers in the game. Between the pipes, Jennifer Sanderson (Jr., Walnut Creek, Calif.) posted five saves and one steal.
The Sun Devils return to the pool Saturday for a 12:15 contest with No. 10 seed UC Irvine, who dropped an 8-4 decision to No. 7 seed Hawaii earlier in the day. The winner of the ASU-UCI game will play Sunday in the ninth-place game while the loser of the contest will also play Sunday, instead battling for 11th place.