After opening the weekend with a loss against conference foe San Diego State, the Sun Devil water polo team rebounded with a trio of non-conference victories.
Despite the conference loss, the No. 8 Sun Devils (11-11, 0-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) regained plenty of confidence over the weekend.
While the Sun Devils put together a ferocious comeback, they were unable to prevent an upset as the No. 11 San Diego State Aztecs defeated the Sun Devils 9-7 in the first game of the weekend.
SDSU jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter and extended their advantage to 7-2 at halftime. Senior Nikki Unbehaun led the offense with two goals, but the offensive surge proved futile as it took the Sun Devils too long to get the offense rolling.
“We were disappointed in the way we started against San Diego State,” ASU coach Todd Clapper said. “I think we struggled a little offensively in the first half.”
After a slow start against the Aztecs, the ASU offense came out with a vengeance in its 15-5 defeat of Brown. The Sun Devils raced to a 5-0 lead in the first eight minutes and led 10-1 at halftime.
ASU junior Mariam Salloum led the offensive explosion. Her four goals and four assists were essential to ASU’s success against Brown, but seniors Sarah Harris and Lynlee Smith also played big roles with two goals apiece.
The Sun Devils offensive outburst continued in their next two games as they defeated UC San Diego 11-8 and Fresno Pacific 21-5.
ASU scored 56 goals over the weekend, but Clapper was more focused on what his team did on the defensive end of the pool.
“We started getting more and more aggressive on defense throughout the weekend,” Clapper said. “By the end there was a lot more confidence in what we were doing. I felt like there was some good defensive play.”
The last three games of the weekend were not conference play, but the Sun Devils enjoyed the opportunity to play new teams.
The non-conference games also allowed ASU to get more playing time for a few players.
“It was great because we were able to get some different rotations in there,” Clapper said. “It was nice to see some of those younger players get some time in as well.”
The Sun Devils will have this weekend off, but will then travel to Hawaii to close out MPSF play and prepare for the conference championships, which begin on April 29.
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
