Senior attacker Kate Enoka (ball) surveys the water during the Sun Devils' 12-3 win over Hartwick on March 25. ASU heads into the MPSF tournament with its first NCAA tournament bid on the line. (Photo by Molly J. Smith)No. 3 ASU water polo will enter the MPSF tournament this week with a chance to gain its first NCAA tournament berth in school history.
ASU (25-5, 4-2 MPSF) will not need to win the tournament to go to the NCAA tournament; it merely needs to finish higher than No. 4 UCLA.
If all the higher ranked teams in the tournament win without any upsets, ASU would meet UCLA (24-5, 3-3 MPSF) with an NCAA bid on the line.
That matchup would happen if ASU and No. 2 USC both win their first games, then USC beats ASU.
UCLA would then need to beat No. 5 Cal and lose to No. 1 Stanford. Stanford has a first-round bye.
ASU would meet UCLA in the game to determine third place in the MPSF.
It would also give the winner of the game between the Sun Devils and Bruins the final at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
The NCAA tournament has eight spots. Six automatic bids are given to the six conference winners. The final two spots are at-large bids given to the two best non-conference winners.
The top five teams in the nation are all in the MPSF. Essentially, the No. 2 and No. 3 nationally ranked teams will gain the at-large bids.
An interesting scenario could play out if Cal (16-6, 2-4 MPSF), San Jose State or CSU Bakersfield wins the tournament. In that scenario, whoever wins would go to NCAA, with Stanford (26-1, 6-0 MPSF) and USC (21-1, 5-1 MPSF) gaining the at-large bids.
The Sun Devils would not go, even if they came in second.
“Like any other tournament you start with the first game,” coach Todd Clapper said. “We’re serious. We know that we need to get out there, and we need to play our best right from the start.”
ASU begins the MPSF tournament Friday against No. 9 San Jose State (11-10, 1-5 MPSF). The Sun Devils topped the Spartans by a score of 11-8 in their last meeting on April 13.
SJSU employed a strategy in which the Spartans scored first, then waited until the last possible moment to shoot. The result is called clock-killing, and it took ASU until the third quarter to climb back in it and escape with a victory.
Therefore, Clapper emphasized the importance of coming out of the gates strong.
Clapper praised the determination of his team in its practices prior to the tournament. The team does now want the season does not end this weekend.
“I would say our preparation for this tournament this weekend has been better than it has ever been since I’ve been here,” Clapper said.
Knowing that winning the tournament is not necessary for an NCAA bid does not stop Clapper from his goal for the weekend.
“We’re playing right now to win the tournament,” Clapper said. “So we’re going to go for it.”
Reach the reporter at justin.emerson@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @J15Emerson
