The ASU women’s water polo team is facing a tough season ahead, but three athletes may drive the team to success.
Sophomore attacker Maud Koopman was named to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Newcomer team her first year as a Sun Devil. Koopman led the team in goals, assists, points and steals, which ultimately landed her a Collegiate Water Polo All-American Honorable Mention – something only three other ASU freshman have done before.
Koopman’s 77 total points last season was 27 more than any other player on the team.
"As a team we prepare for games by scouting the opponents and go over tactics we're likely to use during the games,” Koopman said. “However, personally, I like to watch videos of the players I'm most likely to play against one-on-one, so I am confident about the tasks I have to do against them."
While Koopman’s success may be linked to how she prepares before each match, she also attributes her success to the coaches and the role they have played in her improvement.
“I think my playing style has become much more mature,” Koopman said. “I am more knowledgeable about how this team can come together even though we're from a variety of different countries.”
Koopman said the many different cultures of the team unites rather than divides the team. Nearly half of the team is from outside the United States, including senior center Alkistis Benekou.
Benekou came off the 2015 season with 53 sickouts recorded, which was 11 more than any other player on the roster. Benekou took the 2016 season off, but head coach Todd Clapper said she is one of the game-changers on the team.
“She is a very dominant center player and will help us to have a consistent front court attack,” Clapper said.
On the opposite end of the pool treads junior goalkeeper Mia Rycraw, one of the best goalkeepers in the nation. Clapper said having a player like Rycraw allows for the Sun Devils to do a lot of damage on defense.
Having a goalkeeper like the second-team All-American allows the team to feel confident pressing harder and running different zones on defense.
Rycraw finished off the 2016 season with double-digit saves in her final six games and racked up a total 318 saved shots. With this dominant factor, the Sun Devils have a reason to be confident this season.
Rycraw told USA Water Polo that she feels confident and that the team is off to a great start, which they can attribute to how close the players are with one another.
“We get along outside of the pool and hang out a lot,” Rycraw said. “I think that gives us an advantage.”
While ASU may be optimistic, this year the level of competition is much higher than in years past.
“Due to it being a post-Olympic year, players who practiced for the Olympics just returned to their universities, mainly in the top four schools,” Koopman said.
Some of those players competed in the Olympics this past summer. No. 1 Stanford had four players on the team that placed gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics: Makenzie Fischer, Melissa Seidemann, Maggie Steffens and Kiley Neushul. A home game against Stanford March 11 is one example of the difficulties the Sun Devils with this season's tough schedule.
Although the competition may be tough, the team has their hopes set high. Koopman said the team is determined to reach the NCAA championship this year, but in order to do so they must set more immediate goals.
“Our goal is to become a team with players who works in perfect harmony, a team with players who'll fight for each other and a team who is ready to give their 100 percent effort every single day,” Koopman said. “With this we want to prove that we earned our place in the top five and go to the NCAA Championship.”
With these three dominant athletes leading the way for ASU, there's a definite confidence to the team. However, a high ranking in the preseason does not guarantee success for the regular season, as Koopman said.
The water polo regular season begins this weekend, when the Sun Devils will take on No. 9 University of California-Santa Barbara, No. 14 San Diego State and No. 21 Wagner at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on Jan. 28-29.
Reach the reporter at klbroder@asu.edu or follow @KellyB1459 on Twitter.
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