TEMPE. – Coming off a fifth-place finish at the Triton Invitational last weekend, No. 7 Sun Devil Water Polo returns to Tempe to play host to the ASU Invitational, competing against No. 12 UC Santa Barbara, Marist, San Jose State and Ottawa-Arizona this weekend, Feb. 9-11.
On Friday, the Sun Devils will face off against the Gauchos at 1 p.m. AZT, live stats will be available on 6-8 sports for all ten games.
It's the third tournament of the season for the Sun Devils and the second one to take place in Tempe. In the season-opening Cross Conference Challenge the Sun Devils went 4-0, and clinched two ranked victories over then-No.20 Wagner and then-No.18 LMU.
Friday, Feb. 9: *Home Team on Left side & game times in AZ Time
No. 7 Arizona State vs. No. 12 UCSB – 1:00 P.M AZT
Saturday, Feb. 10:
Ottawa-AZ vs. No. 12 UCSB – 10:00 A.M
No. 7 Arizona State vs. No. 19 San Jose State – 11:30 A.M
Ottawa-AZ vs. Marist – 1:00 P.M
No. 19 San Jose State vs. No. 12 UCSB – 2:30 P.M
No. 7 Arizona State vs. Marist – 4:00 P.M
Sunday, Feb. 11:
Ottawa-AZ vs. No. 19 San Jose State – 10:00 A.M
Marist vs. No. 12 UCSB – 11:30 A.M.
No. 7 Arizona State vs. Ottawa-AZ - 1:00 P.M.
No. 19 San Jose State vs. Marist - 2:30 P.M.
LAST TIME OUT:
In their first road trip of the year the 14th-ranked Sun Devils finished in 5th at the Triton Invite in San Diego, defeating No. 9 UC San Diego, No. 10 Michigan and No. 16 UC Davis en route to a 7-1 record entering the weekend. Luca Petovary led the team with 15 goals last weekend and led the team in three out of four games. Millie Quin scored the game-winner against No.9 UC San Diego with a career-high six goals. The Sun Devils lone defeat was to No. 3 UCLA 13-8 last weekend. In a win against UC San Diego, the Sun Devils outpaced the Trition 8-5 in the second half en route to the comeback win.
HELLO TOP-10:
After defeating two top-10 teams last weekend, the Sun Devils moved up seven spots into the top-10 of the CWPA rankings for the first time since March 8, 2023 when the Sun Devils were ranked ninth. ASU was the biggest climber in this weeks poll and will look to maintain the momentum heading into this weekend.
LEADING LUCA:
Last weekend at the Triton Invitational, Luca Petovary assembled 15 goals and two assists in four games, leading ASU in goals in 3-of-4 games last weekend. She currently leads the team with 32 goals and is tied for the team lead with nine assists, tallying up 41 points so far in eight games. The senior also moved up the ranks in the record book with 162 career goals, which now ranks 5th all-time in program history. With her 32 goals, it ranks first in the MPSF conference, the senior has tallied seven straight games with 3+ goals and has three such games with 5+ goals. On Tuesday, Petovary was named MPSF Player of the Week for her performance in the pool this past weekend by leading the team in three out of four games in San Diego, and has posted seven straight games with 3+ goals.
DUO FROM DOWN UNDER:
After competing together for New Zealand, Millie Quin and Sophie Shorter-Robinson rank second and third on the team in goals and points, with Quin scoring 23 through eight games this season and Shorter-Robinson tallying 15 through three weeks of play. The California transfer is also second in the MPSF conference in goals (23) and points (28) heading into the fourth weekend of the season, she also has beaten her freshman year total of 19 goals last season with the Golden Bears.
Sun Devil Outlook (7-1):
Opponent Outlook:
No. 12 UC Santa Barbara (7-3)
No. 19 San Jose State (1-3):
HOW TO FOLLOW:
Continue following Sun Devil Water Polo on Twitter/X, Instagram and Facebook all-season long during the 2024 season @SunDevilWP for coverage of the team. Live stats can be found on 6-8 sports and The Fosh along with other MPSF Conference teams.
On Friday, the Sun Devils will face off against the Gauchos at 1 p.m. AZT, live stats will be available on 6-8 sports for all ten games.
It's the third tournament of the season for the Sun Devils and the second one to take place in Tempe. In the season-opening Cross Conference Challenge the Sun Devils went 4-0, and clinched two ranked victories over then-No.20 Wagner and then-No.18 LMU.
Friday, Feb. 9: *Home Team on Left side & game times in AZ Time
No. 7 Arizona State vs. No. 12 UCSB – 1:00 P.M AZT
Saturday, Feb. 10:
Ottawa-AZ vs. No. 12 UCSB – 10:00 A.M
No. 7 Arizona State vs. No. 19 San Jose State – 11:30 A.M
Ottawa-AZ vs. Marist – 1:00 P.M
No. 19 San Jose State vs. No. 12 UCSB – 2:30 P.M
No. 7 Arizona State vs. Marist – 4:00 P.M
Sunday, Feb. 11:
Ottawa-AZ vs. No. 19 San Jose State – 10:00 A.M
Marist vs. No. 12 UCSB – 11:30 A.M.
No. 7 Arizona State vs. Ottawa-AZ - 1:00 P.M.
No. 19 San Jose State vs. Marist - 2:30 P.M.
LAST TIME OUT:
In their first road trip of the year the 14th-ranked Sun Devils finished in 5th at the Triton Invite in San Diego, defeating No. 9 UC San Diego, No. 10 Michigan and No. 16 UC Davis en route to a 7-1 record entering the weekend. Luca Petovary led the team with 15 goals last weekend and led the team in three out of four games. Millie Quin scored the game-winner against No.9 UC San Diego with a career-high six goals. The Sun Devils lone defeat was to No. 3 UCLA 13-8 last weekend. In a win against UC San Diego, the Sun Devils outpaced the Trition 8-5 in the second half en route to the comeback win.
HELLO TOP-10:
After defeating two top-10 teams last weekend, the Sun Devils moved up seven spots into the top-10 of the CWPA rankings for the first time since March 8, 2023 when the Sun Devils were ranked ninth. ASU was the biggest climber in this weeks poll and will look to maintain the momentum heading into this weekend.
LEADING LUCA:
Last weekend at the Triton Invitational, Luca Petovary assembled 15 goals and two assists in four games, leading ASU in goals in 3-of-4 games last weekend. She currently leads the team with 32 goals and is tied for the team lead with nine assists, tallying up 41 points so far in eight games. The senior also moved up the ranks in the record book with 162 career goals, which now ranks 5th all-time in program history. With her 32 goals, it ranks first in the MPSF conference, the senior has tallied seven straight games with 3+ goals and has three such games with 5+ goals. On Tuesday, Petovary was named MPSF Player of the Week for her performance in the pool this past weekend by leading the team in three out of four games in San Diego, and has posted seven straight games with 3+ goals.
DUO FROM DOWN UNDER:
After competing together for New Zealand, Millie Quin and Sophie Shorter-Robinson rank second and third on the team in goals and points, with Quin scoring 23 through eight games this season and Shorter-Robinson tallying 15 through three weeks of play. The California transfer is also second in the MPSF conference in goals (23) and points (28) heading into the fourth weekend of the season, she also has beaten her freshman year total of 19 goals last season with the Golden Bears.
Sun Devil Outlook (7-1):
- Senior Luca Petovary currently leads the MPSF conference with 32 goals and 41 points this season.
- She also ranks 5th in program history with 162 career goals.
- The 7-1 start for the Sun Devils is their best since the 2020 season when they started 7-1. With a win Friday, it'll be the first time since 2019 that an ASU team has started 8-1.
- The Sun Devils are one of two teams in the MPSF conference to have three goalscorers from the same team. Petovary (32), Quin (23) and Shorter-Robinson (15).
- Petra Pardi's squad so far as two top-10 wins, already beating out last year's mark of one after defeating No. 9 UC San Diego and No. 10 Michigan this past weekend.
- Alba Olivé Marti has netted a goal in seven out of eight games this season.
- The Sun Devils are 5-0 when scoring first in a game this year and are 6-0 when scoring 10+ goals in a game.
Opponent Outlook:
No. 12 UC Santa Barbara (7-3)
- Coming to Tempe with a 4-3 record against ranked opponents this season and went 2-2 at the Triton Invitational in San Diego.
- The Gauchos are 1-1 against like opponents whereas the Sun Devils are 2-0, with UCSB's only loss was to No. 10 Michigan this past weekend, but both teams defeated UC San Diego by a goal.
- Juju Amaral leads the team with 22 goals and 12 assists this season with tallying up 34 points. The Gauchos have four athletes who've posted double digit goals this season and also have four athletes who have double digit assists.
- The Sun Devils are 13-4 all time against UCSB, as the Gauchos defeated the Sun Devils last season in a 7-6 victory.
No. 19 San Jose State (1-3):
- After taking a week off, the MPSF rival has faced all ranked opponents so far this season, including two top-5 teams in Fresno State and UC Irvine three weeks ago.
- The Spartans are coming off a win against No. 21 CSun edging them out in a 10-8 victory.
- The Spartans are led by Darcy Spark who has six goals in four matches this year, between the pipes Darcy Smith has tallied 16 saves.
- Since the Sun Devils will matchup with the Spartans this weekend, it'll count as a non-conference game between the two schools. Their second matchup will occur on March 26th in San Jose, Calif. as a MPSF game. ASU has won nine straight matches over San Jose State and went 3-0 in 2023.
- The Red Foxes are coming off a 2-2 weekend in the Bruno Classic, with two losses coming to ranked opponents (No. 18 Indiana and No. 15 Harvard)
- Marist is 5-1 this season when scoring 10+ goals, with their only loss coming to No. 25 Ponoma-Pitzer.
- The Sun Devils are 2-0 all time against Marist with their latest meeting happening last season in a 18-9 victory.
- The Spirit have appeared in three matches this season in the Santa Barbara Winter Invite three weeks ago.
- The NAIA national champions went 18-10 in the 2023 season, including ending last year on an eight-game winning streak.
- The Sun Devils and Spirit will meet for the first time since the 2020 season and marks the first of two match-ups between the schools this year.
HOW TO FOLLOW:
Continue following Sun Devil Water Polo on Twitter/X, Instagram and Facebook all-season long during the 2024 season @SunDevilWP for coverage of the team. Live stats can be found on 6-8 sports and The Fosh along with other MPSF Conference teams.