Defense was the ASU water polo team’s top priority in January — and that’s not going to change.
In hopes of maintaining its unblemished record, the Sun Devils are focusing on improving their counter attack for the upcoming games.
No. 6 ASU (5-0) was happy to walk away with five wins from the Winter Invitational in Santa Barbara, Calif., but isn’t completely satisfied. The team knows it must continue to improve.
Coach Todd Clapper said playing defense needs to become more automatic and instinctive. Positioning is a key component of defense that the team will pay closer attention to as the season progresses.
“It’s a short week of practice, but preparation has been good,” Clapper said. “They’ve been focused and been working hard. They understand what they need to do. We need to make sure we’re keeping people off the scoreboard.”
Freshman Anna Kertes echoed this attitude.
“Our offense is good, but we need to improve on defense,” she said. “That’s what matters. If we can shut the other teams down, that’s good.”
Clapper and the rest of the Sun Devils are excited to be facing competition and are enjoying the camaraderie of new and returning players.
“We spend a lot of time together,” Clapper said.
He described the rides in the van at away games as always full of laughter.
“I love ASU,” Kertes said. “I love being on this team because we work together really well. We love each other.”
Senior Annabelle Carter said she is surprised at how well the girls have been getting along, considering that two girls recently joined the team.
“We’ve gelled really well,” Carter said. “A lot of foreigners have come together, and everyone’s getting along better than we would have thought.”
The Sun Devils are working hard in and out of the water, establishing solid team chemistry and giving everything they have into every practice.
“I’m working on everything, individually, for myself and for the others too,” Kertes said. “I want to come out of the water and know I did everything that I could and that we reached our goal of improving on defense.”
Carter said she feels being a senior has called her to take on a leadership role in and out of the pool.
“We have about six or seven freshmen, and I think it’s really important to try to lead the team,” she said. “You’ve just got to give it all, and this is the last chance to really do damage and get what we came here to achieve and that’s NCAAs in a couple of months.”
The Sun Devils have new ambitions they want to accomplish the next time they play.
“This weekend our goal is to have only six goals scored against us,” Carter said. “That’s our focus for this week and the weekend.”
Kertes answered eagerly to the challenge.
“I can’t wait to play this weekend,” she said.
The Sun Devils will travel to Riverside, Calif., this weekend to play in the Cal Baptist Tournament on Saturday.
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