Redshirt senior attacker Alicia Brightwell keeps her eye on the ball while guarding a Stanford attacker on March 24. Despite being the No. 4 team in the country the ASU water polo team will not get a bid for the NCAA tournament. (Photo by Murphy Bannerman)It came down to one game.
It was the game between ASU and UCLA. The winner was going to the NCAA tournament and the loser was going home.
UCLA won 10-7.
ASU is headed home.
“Hats off to UCLA,” coach Todd Clapper said. “We had lots of chances, but we just couldn’t find the back of the net."
Sophomore 2-meter defender Gao Ao recorded a hat trick, as did senior attacker Alicia Brightwell, but they accounted for six of the team’s seven goals.
Besides Gao and Brightwell, only senior center Shannon Haas scored a goal.
ASU (26-7) finishes its best season in program history, a fourth place finish in the MPSF and the last team left out of the national tournament.
“I told the team right after, ‘Keep your head up. We had a great season. We didn’t play our best to finish strong, but that doesn’t take anything away from the rest of the season,’” Clapper said. “They should be proud of what they accomplished.”
While the finish is not what the Sun Devils wanted, there were many program firsts that were achieved.
ASU finished the season with its highest ranking ever.
Senior attacker Alicia Brightwell broke the Sun Devil scoring record, ending the season with 84 goals.
Redshirt freshman E.B. Keeve aslso set a record of her own. She collected 375 saves this season, most in ASU history.
Both records are considered unofficial until reviewed by collegiate water polo officials.
“People that are returning need to look to take the next step next year and work hard in the summer and the offseason,” Clapper said. “Really use this to fuel them for next season."
The Sun Devils can count on the return on Keeve, as well as Gao, who really came into their own at the end of the season.
Clapper also mentioned sophomores Anna Kertes and Katie Sverchek as players he is looking forward to seeing next year.
ASU made it to the third-place game with a victory on Friday over San Jose State 12-8, then the Sun Devils then dropped a semifinal matchup 11-5 against USC.
UCLA defeated Cal State defeated Cal, then lost to Stanford.
The NCAA tournament gives the six conference winners auto-bids, with the two highest-ranked teams to not win a conference title. Because of the strength of the MPSF, the No. 2 and No. 3 nationally ranked teams gain the final at-large bids.
ASU will finish the season with the No. 4 ranking in the nation.
USC won the MPSF title, gaining an auto-bid to the national tournament. Stanford and UCLA finished No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, and earn at-large bids to the tournament.
Reach the reporter at justin.emerson@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @J15Emerson
