TEMPE – Sun Devil Water Polo opened the season in dominant fashion, going 5-0 over the weekend while hosting the two-day Malmsten Invitational at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center, Jan. 24-25.
Arizona State set the tone early with a 16-7 victory over Cal Baptist to begin day one. The Sun Devils followed with a back-and-forth battle against No. 7 Loyola Marymount, securing a 17-15 win for their first ranked victory of the season. Senior Millie Quin made an immediate impact, tallying seven goals and four assists in the ranked win.
ASU closed out Saturday with a commanding 24-6 win over McKendree. Junior Kat Featherstone led the charge offensively, finding the back of the net four times and totaling five points.
The momentum carried into Sunday as the Sun Devils defeated No. 17 Michigan, 16-7. Quin was once again a force, scoring eight goals against the Wolverines. The senior finished the weekend with an impressive 25 goals across five matches.
In the final match of the weekend against No. 11 UC San Diego, Arizona State rallied after trailing 2-0 early and 9-7 late, erupting for four goals in the fourth quarter. Quin and graduate student Nioka Thomas each scored twice during the decisive run. The Sun Devils tied the match at 11-11 in the final minute of the third quarter on a goal from Dominika Kardos, and ASU never looked back, running away with a 15-12 win over UCSD.
The tournament consisted of fantastic performances from senior goalkeeper Sanne Keijzer and sophomore goalkeeper Keri Glad. Keijzer played in all five games of the tournament while starting in three of them. She totaled 27 saves overall in the tournament, with her best performance coming against CBU, where she had 13 saves in the game. Glad appeared in four of the five games, in which three of those she started. She racked up 30 saves in the tournament, with 14 of those occurring in Arizona State's win over No. 17 Michigan.
Up next
Sun Devil Water Polo will hit the road to compete in the Triton Invitational in San Diego from Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Live stats will be available on The FOSH live, with a live stream available on Overnght.