The ASU water polo will be looking to build upon its three-game winning streak against Hawaii, a team that the Sun Devils have not beaten since 2006.
Although the No. 11 Sun Devils (11-11, 0-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) have lost seven straight games to the No. 5 Warriors (16-7, 3-3 MPSF), they are heading into Saturday’s matchup with confidence.
“I think that if we do a good job of shutting down their top shooters and playing the way we’ve been playing in practice we can definitely see a win,” ASU senior Candice Phillippe said. “We need to play the way we’ve been playing in practice.”
Hawaii is a very strong offensive team that has six players with 17 or more goals on the year, and five of those players have already eclipsed the 20-goal mark.
The Sun Devils will also need to focus their attention on Hawaii junior Monika Eggens, who leads the Warriors with 37 goals on the season and averages just less than two goals per game.
While the Sun Devils are certainly focused on this weekend’s game against Hawaii, they are also using their last regular season game to work on some offensive strategies that they may implement during the MPSF Championships, which start on April 29.
“We’ve been adding some dimensions to our offense,” ASU coach Todd Clapper said. “We are also trying to make sure we are a little more confident and secure on defense. On offense we are working on some things to create better matchups.”
ASU is expecting to play well after some encouraging practices the past two weeks, Phillippe said.
“We’ve had a good two weeks of defense and we are also working on our offense,” Phillippe said.
The Sun Devils will also be trying to improve their consistency as the season winds down, but it’s something they have been working on all year.
“We have had some great moments on both offense and defense, but we need to work on consistency,” Clapper said.
The Sun Devils, who have won three straight, are not the only team coming into this weekend’s matchup on a hot streak, as the Hawaii Warriors have won three of their last four games.
The two teams met early in the season at the Stanford Invitational in what was a 9-7 loss for the Sun Devils.
Hawaii will also be playing for seeding, as they are currently tied for third in the MPSF standings and are hoping to solidify the third spot prior to the MPSF Championships.
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
