TEMPE – The ninth-ranked Arizona State University water polo team continues its March home stand as the team hosts its its third and final ASU Invitational in Tempe at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center beginning on Saturday, March 19. ASU opens the weekend against No. 5 Michigan on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. PT before taking on No. 22 Cal Baptist at 1:30. On Sunday, the Devils open against No. 23 Marist at 9:30 a.m. before wrapping up the weekend against No. 12 Pacific at 3:30 p.m.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Michigan has climbed to its highest ranking in program history, sitting at No. 5 for the second straight week. UM was also ranked No. 5 for three straight weeks in 2010. The Wolverines have played 20 of their 21 games against ranked teams, including a 5-5 record against top-10 teams after winning only 18 games against the top 10 in the first 15 years of the program. Senior Ali Thomason has already eclipsed the 50-goal mark for the season with 55 goals in 21 games. She ranks fifth in school history with 170 career goals.
The Lancers are led by senior Hannah Evans, named the NCAA Division II Player of the Year in 2015 after scoring an incredible 120 goals. Evans already has 43 goals this season and is secod on the team with 14 steals. CBU has gotten double-digit goals from Laura Kocsis and Valerie Spezzaferri as well.
Marist is 5-10 this season and are led by junior utility player Amanda Amorosa. Amorosa scored 87 goals for the Red Foxes last season, nearly twice as many as any other Marist player, as she earned All-MAAC First Team honors.
Pacific comes in not having played since Feb. 28 and are 6-12 this season. The Tigers are led by a well-balanced attack paced by Viktoria Szmodics and Karolina Hlavata, who each have 36 goals while six different players are in double digits this season. Szmodics has 21 assists this season as well to lead the team.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Live stats will also be available for each game this weekend for all teams and available here: http://live.thefosh.net. Fans may follow @ASUWaterPolo on Twitter for additional updates.
LAST TIME OUT
The No. 9 ASU water polo team outscored its opponents 45-11 at the ASU Invitational to go undefeated and improve to 10-4 this season. All but one Sun Devil on the roster scored a goal on the weekend and the Devils picked up their first MPSF victory of the year in a 13-4 rout of #24 CSU Bakersfield. ASU matched a school record for the largest margin of victory with a 23-point win over Redlands and closed out the weekend with a hard-fought 8-6 victory over a tough Wagner team.
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 94-38 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.
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 has come back in without missing a step. She currently sits seventh in ASU history with 209 career points, fifth with 93 career assists and 10th all-time with 116 career goals. Her 115 career streals are sixth in ASU history. She has 26 points this season with 14 goals and 12 assists - good for a tie for second on the Sun Devil roster - while she is the model of consistency in also posting 19 steals to date, the highest tally on the team.
WEARING MANY HATS
One of those players many expect to see take over some of the offensive burden left behind due to graduation and Olympic training is Lena Mihailovic. She is currently third on the team with 10 assists and has 11 goals as well. She’s also drawn 12 exclusions this season, a total that ranks second on the ASU roster.
As a freshman, 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.
Kerth has since taking a huge leap in production as the team’s starting center. The senior is fourth on the team with 16 goals this season and has drawn a whopping 45 exclusions - already surpassing her 2015 total and 31 more than any other Sun Devil and nearly half of the 98 total kickouts drawn by ASU this season. Kerth was dominant at the UCI Invitational, finishing with six goals, 13 exclusions drawn and four steals. It’s not always easy to get shots off at center, but when she’s been able to, she’s made opponents pay with her 16 goals coming on just 26 shots (61.5 percent).
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 has been another player filling the offensive void left behind with the departures. Thus far in her senior campaign, Carter has led the Sun Devils with 20 goals and is third on the squad with 27 points as well. A solid all-around player, Carter also has 16 steals to date and 14 kickouts drawn, total good for third and second on the Sun Devils. Her efficiency has really set her apart as she has 20 goals on 38 shot attempts (52.6 percent), the second best percentage amongst the team’s starters.
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.
‘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. A more confident Sverchek has already stepped out of that mold however, and finds herself with 18 goals this season while she is third on the team with 27 overall points thanks to her nine assists. The number is notable as her previous career high was 23 points in 2013.
OH ME, OH MIA
One question mark entering the season was how the Sun Devils would fair in the goal with the graduation of three-time All-American E.B. Keeve. That question was answered with quickness in the opening weekend as redshirt sophomore Mia Rycraw was a brick wall in the cage. Rycraw finished with 31 saves in two games and allowed just 13 goals (.705 save percentage), stopped a penalty shot, had three steals and added an assist for measure. The effort garnered her recognition as the MPSF Player of the Week and established herself as one of the elite goalies in the country and someone to keep an eye on this season.
Thus far, Rycraw has 139 saves and is averaging 11.3 saves per game to just 6.1 goals allowed per game (75 total). Her saves per game lead the MPSF Conference as she has spearheaded an ASU defense that has allowed opponents to reach double digit goals in just one game this season. ASU opponents are averaging just 5.64 goals per game, nearly one and a half goals fewer than they averaged last season. USC has scored under 10 goals just five times this season and two of those were against the Sun Devils. Rycraw is tied for third on the team with 16 steals this season.
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).
WHAT A KOOP
Freshman Maud Koopman wasted no time introducing herself to world as she has established herself as a legitimate all-around threat early this season. Koopman has 17 goals to date, which is good for third on the team, and she has added 13 assists for a team-leading 30 total points. A solid defender as well, Koopman is second on the team with 18 steals. The Dutch attacker was an all-around threat at the second ASU Invitational as she had goals and added four assists in the tournament with four steals in an effort that earned her MPSF Newcomer of the Week honors.
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 have outscored the opposition 41-15 in the first quarter of games this season and hot starts have been ASU’s bread and butter as they are 9-0 when leading after the first quarter and 1-4 when trailing or tied. The +26 goal differential in the first quarter is notable as ASU has just a +29 goal differential in the other three quarters COMBINED.
ASU did much of its 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 were 12-0 when leading after the first quarter last 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 has scored 35 goals on 91 6-on-5 advantages (38.5 percent). While ASU would certainly like to get more done on the offensive end in those situations, they have been exceptional when down a player. The Devils have held the opposition to just 22 goals on 78 chances (31.4 percent) when in 5-on-6 situations.
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 34-28 in all games decided by a single goal and 69-56 in all games decided by three goals or fewer. Since 2012, the Sun Devils are 28-21 in games decided by three goals or fewer but are 16-10 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 this season, currently at 2-2 in one-goal games.
#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.
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.