ASU tries for upset of undefeated Bruins

 by Steven Falkenhagen
 published on Friday, April 11, 2008

Deanna Dent / THE STATE PRESS

SLICK RELEASE: Senior center Kay Lawlor winds up for a throw during ASU’s 17-9 vitory against Pacific earlier this season.

The regular season is winding down for the ASU water polo team, which has three games remaining on its schedule, two of which are this weekend.

The Sun Devils are currently ranked No. 7 in the National Collegiate Women's Poll and will play No. 15 Cal State Northridge (10-15, 1-8) on Saturday. The game is slated to start at 11:30 a.m. at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. ASU will then make the trek westbound for a match at No. 1 UCLA (24-0, 1-0) on Sunday.

ASU (18-9, 5-4) holds a seven-game winning streak going into the weekend — the longest in program history. The team's last loss came March 8 courtesy of UC-Irvine. The Sun Devils fell short 10-9 in four overtime periods in the road loss.

ASU will close out its regular season at home against No. 5 San Diego State on April 19.

The Sun Devils' 5-4 current conference record puts them in sixth place overall in the 13-team Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings. Cal State Northridge is currently in 11th place in the MPSF and UCLA sits atop with its undefeated record.

The final standings will determine the team seeding for the MPSF tournament, which will be held from April 24 to 27 in San Diego.

ASU junior all-around Addison McGrath will lead the attack for the Sun Devils. Her 67 goals scored on the season is first in the conference and her 2.48 goals per game average is second.

Just as important for the Sun Devils' winning aspirations this weekend is senior goalie Caylinn Wallace. The backstop is one of the premier goalies in the country, as she currently has 278 saves on the year. This ranks her first in the MPSF and sixth nationally in total saves. She currently leads the conference in saves per game at 10.3.

ASU has demonstrated the ability to compete with best teams in the country. It has already beat then-No. 2 USC, 8-5 on Feb. 10 at the Stanford Invitational, in Palo Alto, Calif., and then-No. 4 California, 8-7 on March 15 at home — a game that Coach Todd Clapper called "one of the biggest wins in program history."

The Sun Devils' strategy against undefeated UCLA will be trying to keep the game close for three quarters before prevailing against the Bruins in the final frame.

ASU opened up the year against UCLA on Jan. 26, dropping the contest 14-5.

The Sun Devils handled Cal State Northridge 12-3 in the last meeting between the two schools on Feb. 23.

Reach the reporter at: steven.falkenhagen@asu.edu.