The Sun Devil water polo team will be hosting the MPSF tournament, something it has been working toward all season long. The tournament features top-ranked teams, including No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 UCLA and No. 3 USC.
The fifth-seeded Sun Devils' first opponent will be fourth-seeded Cal, the team they played two weeks prior in Berkeley in the final regular season game, where they fell 7-5.
Head coach Todd Clapper isn't concerned about how the team fared weeks ago and is using the game to his advantage.
“It has been basically three weeks of preparing; plus, we had kind of a run through to see how we did, and we've already gotten a lot better,” Clapper said. “We saw some of the reactions to some of the things we did, so it has been good to have that almost kind of test match, a nice scouting report.”
Because the team just faced Cal, it knows what to expect and can prepare specifically for that game.
“Well the nice thing is that we have the same opponent that we prepared for last time,” Clapper said. “Some things will be the same, some things will be different. It has been nice to be able to have two weeks of preparation for one game, on team.”
Although it is the end of the season, Clapper still sees some kinks that need to be worked out before Friday.
“We still have stuff to do,” Clapper said. “Nothing new, but things need to be more automatic. There are a few things where people are still getting a little lost here and there, but it is getting better. We need the extra practices to fine tune and to make sure that everybody is working together.”
Many players on the team put extra emphasis on games against Cal, developing a budding rivalry with the team over the past few years.
“I think there has been a little bit of a rivalry these last few years,” Clapper said. “I think that the players feel that way. For us, it's our ticket to the top four of the conference and to get into the semifinals. For me it's more about the team that is in our way more than the rivalry. Some of them feel like they have a big rivalry with Cal, but for me, they are in our way. That is our focus. That is where we are getting passionate about beating them.”
Clapper is not looking too far into the future, choosing to focus solely on the opponent that stands in front of them.
“We are not even looking past Friday,” Clapper said. “At this point, it is Friday only. We will think about Saturday, we will think about Sunday when they come, but everything right now is all about Friday. We are going all in on Friday, and then we will figure out the rest afterwards.”
The Sun Devils host Cal on Friday at 2:30 p.m.
Reach the reporter at mtsteine@asu.edu or follow @MarcTSteiner on Twitter.
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