TEMPE, Ariz. – As announced by head coach Todd Clapper, Alba Olivé Martí, Abby Begg, Luca Petovary, Tarah Schaffer and Emily van Zonneveld have signed National Letters of Intent (NLI) to attend Arizona State and play water polo for the Sun Devils starting in 2020-21.
Alba Olivé Martí (Barcelona, Spain/Center)
Martí comes to Tempe from Barcelona, Spain, where she plays center for Club Natació Sant Andreu in the top division and has competed in three Spanish Cup Championships. On the international stage, she won the gold medal with Spain at the Junior European Championships in Volos, Greece in 2019. She also took silver in the U15 Championships.
Join us in welcoming our newest signee, Alba Olivé Martí, to the Sun Devil family! #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/Z90tqXya25
— Sun Devil Water Polo (@SunDevilWP) May 5, 2020
Abby Begg (Newbury Park, Calif./Attacker/Utility)
Abby Begg is a four-year varsity starter from Newbury Park High School and a member of the Olympic Development Program. During her junior season, Begg earned several recognitions for her outstanding play, including First Team All-Miramonte League, First Team All-County (Ventura County) and Most Outstanding Attacker. She compiled 111 goals, 69 assists, 87 steals and 32 drawn ejections on the season, helping her team to the CIF Southern Section Playoffs for a third consecutive year. She also earned Scholar Athlete awards in the 2016-17 and 2018-19 seasons.
As a participant in the Olympic Development Program, Begg placed second in the 2019 ODP National Championships with the Coastal Zone Red "A" team and third at the 2018 ODP National Championships with the same team.
As a member of the South Coast Aquatics Club team since 2014, Begg has competed at the Junior Olympics four times since 2016. She has earned eighth place (2019), 14th place (2018) and 23rd place (2017) with the 16U team and 24th (2016) with the 14U team.
Our first signee of the season is official! Welcome to the Sun Devil family, Abby Begg ?? pic.twitter.com/D49v84gUzs
— Sun Devil Water Polo (@SunDevilWP) November 13, 2019
Luca Petovary (Szentendre, Hungary/Attacker)
Luca Petovary joins the Sun Devils from Szentendre, Hungary, where she currently plays for 3rd Ker TVE. Petovary is a three-time Hungarian Youth National Champion and competed at the 2017 Youth European Championships, placing third. She also competed at the FINA Youth World Championships in 2018 in Belgrade, Serbia and the FINA Junior World Championships in 2019 in Funchal, Portugal.
Petovary has played competitive water polo in Canada as well, where she recently finished second at the 2019 Canadian National Championship and was the Candian Junior Championship top scorer.
Join us in welcoming the fourth member of our signing class, Luca Petovary! Luca will join the Sun Devils as an international addition from Szentendre, Hungary pic.twitter.com/sDq344JWha
— Sun Devil Water Polo (@SunDevilWP) November 20, 2019
Tarah Schaffer (Redondo Beach, Calif./Utility)
Tarah Schaffer is a four-year varsity player from Redondo Union High School in California. As a junior starter, she was one of the team's leaders in scoring, steals and drawn ejections. She earned recognition as Most Outstanding Player in the Bay League and earned First Team All-CIF Southern Section honors. Schaffer was also named to the Orange County Register's All-SoCal Varsity Girls Water Polo Team.
During her junior year, Schaffer also participated in the Olympic Development Program and was named to the ODP All Star Team. She excels not only in the pool but in the classroom as well, having been named an Outstanding Academic All-American by USA Water Polo in 2019.
Join us in welcoming Tarah Schaffer to the Sun Devil family! ??#ForksUp pic.twitter.com/OytEDPhKey
— Sun Devil Water Polo (@SunDevilWP) November 15, 2019
Emily van Zonneveld (University Place, Wash./Utility)
Emily van Zonneveld is a four-year varsity player from Curtis Senior High School. She helped lead her team two two state championship titles in 2018 and 2019, and was named the Washington State Girls Water Polo MVP following both of those seasons. In 2019 she was named "Athlete of the Year" for water polo by the Tacoma Athletic Commision.
She has led her team in goals, steals and field blocks throughout her entire high school career, and was named to the First Team All-State all three season as well. Outside out water polo, Van Zonneveld also excelled on the swim team at Curtis Senior H.S., breaking two school records during her three varisty seasons.
Help us welcome our newest signee, Emily van Zonneveld! pic.twitter.com/BNH0hBnSja
— Sun Devil Water Polo (@SunDevilWP) November 13, 2019