The Sun Devils will begin the weekend with a 4 p.m. (AZT) matchup against No. 15 Long Beach State Friday. With a win, ASU will advance to play the winner of No. 4 Cal and No. 17 San Jose State Saturday at 10:15 a.m.
ABOUT THE BARBARA KALBUS INVITATIONAL:
The Barbara Kalbus Invitational is one of the premire tournaments in the country. This year's filed features 16 teams ranked in the top-25, including nine teams currently ranked in the top-10.
The tournament field features No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 USC, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Cal, No. 5 Arizona State, No. 6 UC Irvine, No. 7 Hawaii, No. 8 Michigan, No. 9 UC Santa Barbara, No. 11 Pacific, No. 12 San Diego State, No. 15 Long Beach State, No. 16 UC San Diego, No. 17 San Jose State, No. 20 Loyola Marymount, and No. 22 CSUN.
ABOUT BARBARA KALBUS:
Formerly named the UCI Invite, the 2017 tournament has been re-named to honor Barbara Kalbus, an influential figure in both USA water polo, as well as UCI Polo.
Kalbus was a 1993 inductee into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, after serving as a manager for the Men's Senior National Team. Kalbus also held a variety of leadership positions within USA Water Polo, including the title of President from 1980-1984.
At UC Irvine, she served as the desk manager for both the men's and women's teams for over 30 years.
In 2010, the Barbara Kalbus Distinguished Volunteer Award was established by USA Water Polo, and serves to recognize those in the sport that have gone above and beyond in volunteer service to the sport.
LAST TIME OUT:
In their last outing, No. 5 ASU finished as the runner up at the Triton Invitation, hosted by USD at the at the Canyonview Aquatic Center. The Sun Devils swept the first day of competition, claiming wins over Sanoma and UC Davis, posting back-to-back season-highs in goals in both games. On day two, the Sun Devils punched their ticket to the championship game, with a hard fought 8-9 win over UCI in the morning, before eventually falling to No. 2 USC in the event's Championship game.
Three different Sun Devils recorded multi-goal games on the final day of the Triton Invitational, including Alkistis Benekou, Maud Koopman and Lena Mihailovic, who all finished the weekend with eight goals.
NOT IN MIA HOUSE:
This season, much like last, Mia Rycraw has anchored the Sun Devil defense. So far this season, the Junior has recorded 64 saves on the year, including 47 saves at the Triton Invitational. Rycraw currently holds the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the MPSF's single-game saves high this season with a 16 save outing against UCI and a 15 save game against UCD.
GOALS ON GOALS
The Sun Devils have tallied a total of 82 goals on the season en rout to outscoring their opponents 82-43. Sophomore Maud Koopman leads the Sun Devil attack with 18 goals so far on the year. Her 2.57 goals per game average currently ranks fourth in the MPSF while fellow teammate Lena Mihailovic (15 games) ranks seventh with a 2.14 goals per game average.
SCOUTING THE GROUP:
Long Beach State University:
The Beach enter the weekend hovering right at the .500 mark on the season. LBSU also competed in the Triton Invitational two weeks ago, and after opening the tournament with a loss, the Beach rattled off three straight wins including victories over No. 20 Loyola and No. 16 Hartwick.
California
The Golden Bears enter the weekend with an impressive 10-1 record on the season. The Bears will enter the weekend tournament riding a two-game win streak. In their last outing, No. 4 Cal had 11 different players score goals in a 14-4 win over Santa Clara to close out the California Speedo Cup II. Dora Antal currently leads Cal's scoring effort this season, with 27 goals in 2017 (2.70 GPG), ranking third in the conference.
San Jose State University
The Spartans enter this weekend's competition with an 8-4 record on the season, that already includes three meeting with teams ranked in the top-5 in the nation. In their last outing, SJSU toped Occidental, 20-3, to close out the 37th annual Aggie Shootout hosted by UC Davis. The Spartans' opening road matchup against California will mark their sixth game against a top-10 team, and third meeting of the season against the Bears.