TEMPE – The sixth-ranked Arizona State University water polo team will open the 2016 season this weekend at home as it hosts the first of three scheduled ASU Invitationals at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe, Ariz. The Sun Devils will square off with No. 14 Indiana in a scheduled doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 23, with games at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. MT. The two teams will hit the pool again on Sunday for two exhibition matches against each other beginning at 9 a.m. MT, followed by a second game at 1 p.m.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
The Hoosiers finished the 2015 campaign in a three-way tie at the top of the CWPA conference where it just misse out on a bid to the NCAA Championships in a tough 7-6 loss to Princeton in the CWPA Championship game. Indiana finished 11th in the final coaches poll on the season. ASU played Indiana once last season at the ASU Invitational, a 12-5 victory in favor of the Sun Devils. ASU is 6-1 all-time against Indiana. IU has a solid goalkeeper in senior Mary Campbell, who allowed just 4.5 goals per game in the CWPA Tournament to earn All-Tourney honors while finishing the season with 262 saves. Indiana did lose a significant amount of desfense, however, as the team’s top three players in steals were lost to graduation as well as the team’s top two field blockers.
The team’s biggest offensive threat last season was actually a defender and only a freshman in the form of Kelly Matthews, who led the team with 73 goals despite coming off the bench the majority of the season. The total was the sixth-highest value in school history and 17 more than any other player on the squad. Center Candyce Schroeder was second on the team with 56 goals and returns to the Hoosiers as a senior this season.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Fans can follow the Sun Devils throughout the weekend by following @ASUWaterPolo on Twitter. Live stats will also be available via http://live.thefosh.net.
RECENT SUCCESS
The Sun Devils have established themselves as one of the elite teams in the country in the last couple years. Since 2012, the Sun Devils have compiled a 85-31 record under head coach Todd Clapper. In that time, the team has posted 14 All-America honors while earning the first victory over UCLA in program history, beating Cal on the road for the first time ever and matching a program best upset with a victory over second-ranked USC last season. ASU advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history in 2014, taking fifth overall with a victory over UC Irvine. The Sun Devils posted a program-best fourth-place finish in the MPSF Championships and CWPA Final Coaches Poll in 2013 (peaking at a program best No. 3 in the 2013 regular season) and set school records in wins in two of those seasons as well.
LOOKIN’ BACK - 2015 SEASON
Seven members from the Arizona State University water polo team have earned recognition from the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches for the 2014-15 campaign, with three nabbing All-America team honors and four achieving academic excellence in a season where the Sun Devils compiled a 16-10 overall record. Looking for the team’s second berth in the NCAA Tournament, the Sun Devils dropped six of their last seven games after a 15-4 start to the year and had their postseason dreams undone with an 0-2 finish at the MPSF Championships, both losses (to No. 4 Cal and No. 9 SJSU) coming by just a single goal.
Sophomore attacker Izabella Chiappini earned her first All-America selection with Third-Team honors while fellow sophomores E.B. Keeve and Alkistis Benekou received Honorable Mention nods. Chiappini played an impactful role on the Sun Devil squad, netting 56 goals and 23 assists on the year. She topped the team with 79 total points and 26 steals, helping her earn her first All-MPSF distinction as well. For Keeve, this is her third consecutive year nabbing an All-American title. Keeve logged 239 total saves and averaged 12.75 saves per game as netminder for the Sun Devils this past season. Benekou is also no stranger to the All-American team earning her second Honorable Mention. As a commanding center, Benekou led the team in exclusions drawn with 54 and finished with 41 goals on the season.
Like Chiappini, both Keeve and Benekou received All-MPSF honors. Chiappini’s selection made her the 14th Sun Devil in program history to be named to an All-America team. With three selections, ASU placed three or more student-athletes on the All-America team for the fifth consecutive season. Since 2011, the Sun Devils have posted 17 All-American honors compared to just 10 total in its history prior to the current run.
#NEXTMANUP
The Sun Devils lost four All-Americans to either graduation or Olympic training following last season and put a sizeable dent in the returning statistics as a result. Izabella Chiappini (56 goals), Alkistis Benekou (41 goals) and Petra Pardi (37 goals) made up 53.8 percent of ASU’s 249 total goals last season. Three-time All-American E.B. Keeve started 20 games and finished with 239 saves in 2015 and 936 career saves - good for second in ASU history despite playing just three seasons - and the ASU will have to find a way to fill in the void left by that exodus. Fortunately, the pieces are in place.
HOW NOW AO GAO
After taking a year off to focus on her scholarly journalism pursuits and an internship with the Crew West video production group, two-time Olympian and All-America Ao Gao will return to the Sun Devil Water Polo program for her fourth and final year of collegiate water polo while working toward her graduate degree in ASU’s Sports Journalism program. Gao brings a wealth of experience, having played in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 where she helped China to a fifth-place finish and was named a tournament All-Star for her effort. She would also go on to represent her home country at the 2012 London Olympics where the Chinese squad also took fifth. At ASU, Gao earned All-America honors as a two-meter defender during her sophomore and junior seasons.
Despite the year off, Gao comes back for her senior season with a chance to rewrite the ASU record books. She currently sits ninth in ASU history with 186 career points, fifth with 82 career assists and just outside the top 10 with 102 career goals. Her 96 career streals are ninth in ASU history.
WEARING MANY HATS
One of those players many expect to see take over some of that offensive burden is sophomore Lena Mihailovic. Mihailovic arrived in Tempe approximately a week and a half before the first Sun Devil contest in 2015, but you wouldn’t be able to tell it by looking at the stat sheet. The youngster finished fourth on the team with 27 goals and second on the team with 19 assists for a grand total of 47 points. She was second on the team with 16 steals and fourth with 18 kickouts drawn and has shown to be an every day player that can get it done in all areas of the game. Mihailovic trained extensively with the Australian Junior National Team this past summer.
Mihailovic also made an appearance in the World University Games held in Gwangju, Korea this past July. Her penalty shoot out goal against Canada would help Australia take home a gold medal. She also appeared in FINA World Junior Water Polo Championships.
DOWNTON ABBEY
Last season, Abbey Kerth quietly put up exceptional numbers as reserve at center behind All-American Alkistis Benekou. This season, Kerth will be leaned heavily upon to replace her as Benekou trains for the Olympics and a spot on the Greek National Team. A senior, Kerth finished her junior season with 13 goals this season and while she may not have rack up the gaudy offensive numbers as Benekou, she drew 42 exclusions last season - just 11 fewer than Benekou for second on the roster. Kerth has 44 goals in her career and, on a team that prides itself by being strong in the middle of the pool, will get ample opportunity to build on that number this season.
DRIVING MISS DAISY
Senior Daisy Carter is another player to keep an eye on this season as someone who can fill some of the offensive void left behind with the departures. Carter was fifth on the team with 17 goals last season and enters the year with 38 career goals to her credit while her 25 career assists are second on the roster only to two-time All-American Ao Gao’s 84.
A TEAM EFFORT
ASU knows what it has in offense when it comes to Izabella Chiappini and Alkistis Benekou leading the charge with plenty of support from Petra Pardi and Lena Mihailovic. But the layers continue to the third group of scorers as the Devils have six different players sitting around the 8-14 goal range in Daisy Carter, Katie Sverchek, Claudia Abad, Kayla Casas, Abbey Kerth and Taylor Bertrand. Spreading the wealth around has helped ASU ensure anyone can find the back of the net at a given time and forces opponent defenses to stay honest and the Devils have made it so with the balanced offensive attack this season.
‘CHEK YO SELF
Senior Katie Sverchek has made some of the most prominent gains of any player on the Sun Devil roster this season and coaches are praising her for taking her game play to a different level. With Ao Gao out last season, Sverchek switched from a utility player to a two-meter defender and put together a solid season in her new role, if not one with eye-popping statistics. That latter could see some change this season, however, as Sverchek showed off plenty of offensive moxie against the Shanghai Sports Institute in five exhibition games earlier this month, finishing second on the team with five goals in the series.
OH ME, OH MIA
Redshirt sophomore Mia Rycraw saw limited action last season, but made the most of it as she finished with 80 saves and just 49 goals against in 15 appearances (five starts). Rycraw will be tasked will taking over the duties in the cage with the departure of three time All-American E.B. Keeve but coaches are confident that there will be little to no drop off this season. In fact, head coach Todd Clapper expects Rycraw to be just as good, if not better that Keeve, and push for mention as one of the top keepers in the country this season.
WHO’S THE NEW GIRL?
Well, take your pick. The Sun Devil roster features seven freshmen and just three players that started regularly last season. With plenty of new faces in the pool, a couple to keep an immediate eye on are Maud Koopman, Rosie Huck and PJ Allin. Koopman brings plenty of international experience with her and is game-ready right out of the box. Koopman competed on the Dutch Youth and Junior National teams that competed in 2014 at the Youth World Championships and the European Championships. Koopman will take over as a weakside attaker, allowing Lena Mihailovic to move to a more comfortable strong side location. Koopman showed plenty of savvy against the Shanghai Sports Institute, finishing with five goals in the series and easily pacing the team with eight assists. Huck, a freshman out of Great Britain, will come in and look to back up Kerth at center. Huck spent the last year competing with the Great Britain National Team and was the youngest player on the roster at the 2014 European Water Polo Championships in Budapest. Allin, out of British Columbia, is a competent left hander that can fill some of the void left behind by Petra Pardi’s graduation. Allin was a member of the 2013 Canadian U16 National team and captained her team in the Cadet National Club Championships in 2012.
GETTING OFF TO A HOT START
The Devils did much of their damage in the first half last season, outscoring the opposition 58-34 (+24) in the first quarter and 69-49 (+20) in the second quarter. The numbers are a far cry from the second half where ASU trailed 64-58 in third quarter scoring and held only a +22 overall second half scoring advantage compared to its +44 first-half scoring edge. Getting ahead early was key for the Devils in 2015, as they are 12-0 when leading after the first quarter this season and 16-1 when leading at halftime. ASU was 0-5 when getting outscored in the first quarter and 0-8 when trailing or tied at half time.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE MAN ADVANTAGE
Much like the game of hockey, water polo provides teams with a great opportunity with the exclusion rule for hard penalties and the Sun Devils did a good job last season of taking advantage of the situation in 6-on-5 advantages while limited opponents in their own chances. ASU outscored the opposition 67-35 last season in 6v5 goals and limited opponents to just 27 percent scoring in those situations (35 129 chances).
CLUTCH PERFORMERS
In head coach Todd Clapper’s career, he is 32-26 in all games decided by a single goal and 66-53 in all games decided by three goals or less. Since 2012, the Sun Devils are 25-18 in games decided by three goals or less but are 14-8 in games decided by only a single goal. In 2013, ASU was 5-0 in games decided by a goal but dropped to a 1-4 mark in such games during the 2015 campaign and will look to get back to the clutch finishes it had become accustomed to prior to the current drought.