April 12, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 11 Arizona State University water polo team (10-11, 3-6 MPSF) will play host to its final two regular season home games this weekend as a pair of conference foes come to Tempe and the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. The Sun Devils open the weekend with a noon game against No. 14 Long Beach State (7-14, 3-7 MPSF) on Saturday before closing out the weekend with No. 7 UC Irvine (16-8, 3-6 MPSF) at noon on Sunday.
SENIOR SENDOFF
Prior to the game with No. 7 UC Irvine on Sunday afternoon, the Sun Devil water polo program will honor its four seniors: Windy Ballejos, Ashley Bower, Katie Hedley and Lindsay Williams. Both Bower and Hedley have posted two of the top careers in Arizona State water polo history during their four years of play in the Valley of the Sun while Ballejos and Williams will be concluding their two years with the program after transferring in from junior colleges prior to the start of the 2006 season.
STREAKING
With their 13-5 defeat of Pacific on the road last weekend, the Sun Devils extended their winning streak to five in a row, matching the second-longest streak in the history of the program. Arizona State fell at No. 6 California, 17-8, the following afternoon to see its streak end.
NATIONALLY KNOWN
In the latest national rankings (released April 11), the Sun Devils moved down three spots to No. 11 in the polls this week after defeating Pacific, 13-5, and falling to No. 6 California, 17-8, in road action last weekend. Both of Arizona State's foes this weekend are ranked in the Top 20 as well, including No. 14 Long Beach State and No. 7 UC Irvine.
WINDING DOWN
Only two weekends and four games remain on the schedule for the Sun Devils before they play host to the 2007 MPSF Championships (April 26-29). After a two-game homestand this weekend, the Sun Devils will hit the road for a pair of games next weekend (April 21) as Arizona State will face San Diego State and UC San Diego on the same day. The two home games, as well as the SDSU game, will play a large role in determining the tournament seeding of the Sun Devils for the MPSF event.
IN THE STANDINGS
With three conference games lef to play, the Sun Devils will need some victories to help them move up the standings in the MPSF. Currently tied for eighth in the league with a 3-6 record, Arizona State will face Long Beach State, who is 10th with a 3-7 record, and UC Irvine, who is tied with ASU with a 3-6 mark. Next weekend, the Sun Devils will face San Diego State, who is currently fourth in the standings with a 6-2 record.
NO EASY TASK
So far this season, the Sun Devils have played 21 games with all but two foes holding a position in the national Top 20 rankings. Of those contests, the Sun Devils have faced seven foes in the Top 5 and five others in the Top 10.
THREE IS THE NUMBER
So far this month, the Sun Devils have faced all three teams ranked in the Top 3 of the national poll. Arizona State faced No. 1 Stanford on March 1 and No. 2 UCLA on March 10 before meeting No. 3 USC March 24. At the ASU Invitational, the Sun Devils faced another top-ranked foe, this time meeting No. 1 Redlands, the top-ranked team in Division III, giving ASU four Top 3 foes this month.
CENTURY
With her goal at the 4:32 mark of the first quarter against Redlands on March 31, Ashley Bower recorded the 100th score of her career, joining teammate Katie Hedley as the only two Sun Devils to reached the century mark in a career. Bower ended the game with two goals and nine total in four games at the ASU Invitational to bring her career total to 106. Bower also broke the century mark in career assists over the weekend as she had two helpers in the UC Santa Barbara game on March 30. Bower ended the weekend with nine assists for a total of 18 points in a four-game span.
CENTURY TIMES TWO
With her 18 points at the ASU Invitational, Ashley Bower not only eclipsed the 100-goal and 100-assist marks, she also became the first Sun Devil to record 200 points in a career. Bower currently ranks first in career assists with 108 and first in career points with 218 while sitting second behind fellow senior Katie Hedley for the lead in career goals with 110.
CAN SHE HELP YOU?
After posting nine assists in four games, Bower also added another distinction to her resume as she is now the single-season assist leader in program history with 35, surpassing the old mark of 32 set in 2002 by Kim Yost. For the year, Bower also ranks sixth on the points in a season list with 62.
NO DOUD ABOUT IT
Addison Doud continues to lead the team in scoring this season having already netted 41 goals on the season, the fifth-best output in a single season at Arizona State. Through 21 games this season, Doud, who is averaging 1.95 goals per contest (the 12th-best in the MPSF), has recorded three or more goals in a game on six occasions, totalling 22 goals in those contests. Doud recently recorded the 100th point in her short career, moving into fifth on the all-time list. Her 61 points recorded in 2007 also rank seventh on the single-season record ledger while her 80 career goals scored in just under two years ranks fifth all-time.
EXCLUDE YOU!
Addison Doud is not just putting the ball in the back of the net this year, but also helping her teammates create power-play opportunities by putting the other team down one player. Doud leads the team with 66 kick-outs drawn, an average of 3.2 ejections drawn per game, and is tops with 31 ejections drawn in MPSF games (3.4 per game). Doud also leads the team with five, 5-meter penalty shots earned so far this season having drawn five total.
FIRST START
Over the weekend, senior goalie Windy Ballejos earned her first career start and posted a solid performance as she saved 10 shots to help Arizona State defeat Pacific, 13-5. Ballejos also added a pair of steals and recorded the first point of her Sun Devil career as she recorded one assist in the contest.
NEW TO THE SCORING
A pair of freshman added their names to the scoring ledger at the ASU Invitational as both Jennifer Campo and Kari Walsh scored the first goals of their careers. Both players found the back of the net twice to conclude the scoring in an 18-6 defeat of Redlands. Walsh was the first and last to score of the two rookies in the game with an advantage goal at 4:51 and the final tally at 1:47 while Campo scored both of her goals at even-strength (4:16 and 3:38). Walsh added two more scores last weekend as she found the back of the net twice at Pacific.
STEPP-ING IN
Amanda Stepp continues to lead the scoring efforts of the freshmen class as she has scored 22 goals and recorded 19 assists for 41 points. Her goal and point totals are the seventh-most in a freshman campaign in school history while her assist total ranks tied for sixth and her point total is eighth. Kelly Phelps also joined her recently on the scoring charts as her 18 goals this season ranks as the ninth-best in a freshman campaign.
IN THE MPSF - INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Addison Doud is the lone Sun Devil on the MPSF Top 30 scoring list this week as her 1.95 goals per game average (41 in 21 games) ranks as the 12th-best output in the league. Caylinn Wallace continues to sit second in the MPSF with a 10.37 saves per game average and her 197 total saves rank tied for third.
IN THE MPSF - TEAM STATISTICS
Arizona State ranks seventh in scoring with a 9.29 goals per game average despite ranking 10th in total goals scored with 195. Defensively, ASU's 10.33 saves per game average leads the conference while its 217 total saves ranks as the fourth-most in the league.
CHAMPAN'S WINNER
Entering the ASU Invitational, freshman Bonnie Champan had scored four goals and exited the weekend with only one more added to her total. That one goal, however, came a very opportune time as Chapman scored what would be the winning goal in an 8-7 upset of No. 5 San Diego State. Chapman, who was wide open near the cage, caught and fired home the winning score with 40 seconds remaining in the game.
HAPPY TO UPSET
For the second time this season, the Sun Devils have defeated a higher-ranked opponent with the most recent upsetting coming last Sunday (April 1) in an 8-7 decision over No. 5 San Diego State. Prior to that, the Sun Devils downed then-No. 6 San Jose State, 11-10 in overtime, on March 4.
SCOUTING: LONG BEACH STATE
The 49ers enter the weekend with a 7-14 overall record and stand 3-7 in league play. Marina Canetti leads the team in scoring with a 1.67 goals per game average while the 49ers rank last in the MPSF in team scoring, averaging just 7.86 goals per game.
IN THE SERIES: LONG BEACH STATE
The 49ers lead the all-time series, 7-1, and are 2-0 in games played in Tempe. Despite that, the Sun Devils won the last meeting, scoring a 9-6 victory in the opening round of the 2006 MPSF Championships at UC Irvine. The last time the two teams met in Tempe came during the 2005 season with the visiting 49ers taking a 7-3 decision.
SCOUTING: UC IRVINE
The Anteaters 16-8 overall this year and 3-6 in the league. Jackie Prine leads the offense for the Anteaters, scoring 1.68 goals per contest (37 in 22 games) while the team ranks just behind the Sun Devils in team scoring, averaging 9.29 goals per game this year.
IN THE SERIES: UC IRVINE
The Sun Devils hold a slim 7-6 lead in the all-time series and stand 2-0 all-time at home against the Anteaters. The last time the two teams met was an epic battle as the Sun Devils scored a 13-12 victory in the second sudden-victory period to upset the Anteaters in the home pool during the MPSF Championships. The last time the two teams met in Tempe came in 2005 with ASU winning, 5-3.
SCORING QUEEN
With her goal scored at 2:41 remaining in the second quarter against No. 6 San Jose State on February 24 at the Irvine Invitational, Katie Hedley became the first Sun Devil to score 100 career goals. Hedley now has 109 goals in her career.
DOUD AND TEAM USA
Over the summer, Addison Doud competed for several US Water Polo teams, playing in international events around the world. While playing for the US 'B' team in the World League Preliminaries, the Americans went 1-1 with a 10-8 win over Brazil to advance to the semifinals. In the Brazil game, Doud netted two goals to help the US to victory. From there, she joined the junior side and went 2-1 at the Pythia Cup for second place, scoring six goals in three games. Her final action of the summer saw her score two goals in the Trofeo Liguira in Rapallo, Italy, as the Americans placed second overall.
CLAPPER AND TEAM USA
During the summer, Todd Clapper served as the head coach for the US Youth National Team and took his group to the Junior Pan-Am Games in Montreal. Playing against teams with players two years older, the US captured gold in the tournament. For their efforts, the US Olympic Committee recently selected the team as the 2006 Team of the Year.
ASU HOSTS MPSF TOURNAMENT
Fans, mark your calenders for April 26-29 as the top teams in the nation will invade Tempe for the 2007 MPSF Championships at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. The four-day tournament will be used to determine the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Championships and will feature many of the top teams in the nation.
MONA PLUMMER AQUATIC CENTER
The Mona Plummer Aquatic Center serves as the home venue for both the water polo and men's and women's swimming and diving programs. Opened in July, 1981, the plant consists of three pools- an Olympic-size, 50 meter by 25 yards, seven-foot deep competition pool with a movable bulkhead; a 25-yard, 18-foot diving well; and a 25-yard eight-lane warm-up pool. The complex also offers a diving tower. The tower has three platforms (5, 7.5 and 10 meters), four springboards and a pair of 1- and 3-meter boards, which flank the tower.
NEXT TIME OUT
Arizona State will close its regular season next weekend in San Diego with a pair of games scheduled for April 21. The Sun Devils will face San Diego State in a noon MPSF contest before closing the regular season at UC San Diego that night in a 7 p.m. game.