On February 23, 2008, the ASU water polo team lost 8-7 to Loyola Marymount.
That loss was 1,147 days ago; it was also the last time the ASU water polo team lost a game to a team outside the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
There have been some close calls, including an overtime win against Santa Clara in 2009 and a double-overtime win against Indiana that same year, but the win streak has remained intact.
Since the Sun Devils play in the MPSF, which is the country’s most competitive conference, they are often able to relax and play non-MPSF games with less stress than conference games.
So far this season, all of ASU’s conference games have been against teams ranked in the top 10 in the country, while they have yet to play a non-MPSF school that was ranked.
“I think it’s good to play non-conference teams because it gives us a chance to practice in games that don’t mean as much as the conference games,” ASU senior Candice Phillippe said. “We are in the hardest conference in the country. It can be a big difference between teams that are in our conference and teams that are not.”
Since the rest of the games this season are against MPSF teams, the Sun Devils will finish this season out a perfect 8-0 against non-conference opponents and will carry their non-conference winning streak into the 2011-2012 season.
The 1,147 days since ASU lost to a non-MPSF foe is certainly a long time, but it has been almost as long since the Sun Devils have won a conference game.
ASU defeated San Diego State 10-7 on April 19, 2008, 1,091 days ago.
Since then, the Sun Devils have been unable to win a conference game, despite occasional victories against MPSF teams in tournaments and other games that do not count for the conference record.
Although they are already 0-6 in MPSF play this season, the Sun Devils will have a few more chances to snap their conference losing streak as they close the regular season with a conference game against Hawaii before heading to the MPSF conference tournament.
Winning in the conference would be preferred, but it is not as easy as it may seem. The MPSF is clearly the nation’s toughest water polo conference as all eight teams are ranked among the top 11 teams in the country.
“Any one of the teams in our conference would be strong contenders, if not the favorite to win any other conference,” Clapper said. “That’s the tough thing about being in our conference, but it’s also the exciting thing because it pushes us to be our best.”
Most coaches and teams would start to feel pressure and discouragement as they approached three straight seasons without a conference victory, but the Sun Devils understand the strength of the conference and do find encouragement in their play.
“It’s hard when sometimes you don’t get the results you want on the scoreboard, but this team has trained hard and they are practicing well and playing well,” Clapper said. “I am confident that they will finish the season strong.”
The famous and often overused cliché may say that any team can win on any given day, but if the past two years are any indication, it is fairly easy to predict the outcome of ASU water polo games simply by the conference affiliation of the opponent.
If ASU is playing in an MPSF game, it is likely to be a tough day for the Sun Devils, but on a bright note, recent history says the Sun Devils will win just about every time if they are playing a team in any other conference in the U.S.
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
