The 2007 ASU women's water polo season got off to a rocky start last weekend, as the team went 1-3 and placed seventh in the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.
The Devils opened their season against No. 1 USC Saturday and were soundly defeated, 13-4.
USC got off to a quick start in the game and led 5-1 after the first quarter and 8-3 at halftime. The Sun Devils then scored only one goal in the second half while the women of Troy scored four to take the game, 12-4.
"[USC's] speed and the amount of physicality when the ball turned over on the counterattack kind of took us by surprise," coach Todd Clapper said. "Our defense wasn't too bad once we were back, but it was really transitions where we were getting hurt."
Senior Ashley Bower scored the first two goals for the Devils, and freshmen Kelly Phelps and Amanda Stepp both scored their first collegiate goals in the game.
Phelps also had a great game, defensively, against USC sophomore Kami Craig, who is regarded as one of the top centers in the world.
"As a freshman coming in without big-time international experience, to go against a world-class center like that was really exciting," Clapper said.
Later that day, the Sun Devils faced off against No. 10 San Jose State and lost, 11-10.
The Spartans took an early 4-0 lead. ASU then fought back and outscored the Spartans 10-6 over the next three periods.
The Sun Devils got an outstanding performance from Addison Doud, who scored four goals.
"It was great to see Addison kind of explode on the offensive end," Clapper said.
The Devils then faced No. 3 Stanford Sunday and lost by a final score of 16-7.
This time, ASU got the fast start it was looking for as the Devils scored 56 seconds into the game. However, the Cardinal then outscored the Sun Devils 10-3 the rest of the half to take a six-goal lead into the break.
Junior Kim Buck and senior Lindsay Williams each scored two goals for the Devils, while freshman Bonnie Chapman added a goal and four steals.
ASU finally got in the win column when it defeated Indiana 18-7.
ASU led 6-2 at the end of the first quarter and 10-4 at halftime. The Sun Devils then kept the goals coming, as they scored five in the third period and three in the fourth.
Bower, Buck, Doud and senior Katie Hedley all recorded hat tricks in the game.
"[Indiana] had a few players who were tall and strong, but we could match up with them," Clapper said. "In a lot of ways we were better than them at positions, and we were also deeper so we kind of wore them out."
Reach the reporter at: gina.mizell@asu.edu.
