March 4, 2010

Complete Release in PDF Format

THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF. - The sixth-ranked Arizona State University women's water polo team (6-5, 0-0 MPSF) will face No. 9 Cal State Northridge in the first game of the Cal Lutheran Spring Classic March 5-7 in Thousand Oaks, Calif. ASU will play three games on March 6 at Samuelson Aquatics Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif., with the first coming against the Matadors at 8:30 a.m. The Sun Devils will finish the weekend with a pair of games on March 7.

IN THE FIELD
 The Cal Lutheran Spring Classic consists of 17 teams from across the country, including 10 ranked in the top-20 of their respective divisions, according to the March 3, 2010 National Collegiate Poll rankings. No. 6 California is the top-ranked team from Division I, followed by No. 6 ASU, No. 10 CS Northridge and No. 19 CS East Bay. The six ranked teams from Division III participating are No. 1 Pomona Pitzer, No. 2 Cal Lutheran, No. 4 Occidental, No. 5 Claremont-M-S, No. 7 Whittier and No. 10 La Verne. The remaining members of the field are Cal Baptist, CS Monterey Bay, Fresno Pacific, Pacific, Penn St.-Behrend, Villanova and Wagner.

SCORING IN BUNCHES
 Sophomore attacker Annabelle Carter has 18 goals on the season, which is tied for the team lead, five assists, 10 steals and 23 points. Second on the team with four multiple goal games on the season, Carter found the back of the net six times Jan. 30 in a win over UC Irvine and four times Feb. 27 vs. CS Northridge. In four games at the UC Irvine Invitational Feb. 27-28, Carter scored a goal in each game and ended the weekend with nine goals, an assist and three steals.

PICKING UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF
 Junior attacker Lynlee Smith recorded seven goals in four matches Feb. 27-28 at the UC Irvine Invitational, including a hat trick against No. 1 Stanford. The Auckland, New Zealand, native has three hat tricks this season, is tops on the team with five multiple goal games and has notched a goal in 10 of 11 matches. Last year's leading scorer already has 18 goals on the season and her 83 career scores are eighth in school history. She is tied for the team lead with 24 points and has 114 points in her career, the ninth most in school history.

AN EMERGING STAR
 With 12 goals and nine assists on the season, sophomore attacker Kelsey White has more than tripled her numbers from last year. Her 21 points rank fourth on the team and her 11 steals are second best on the squad. She earned her first career hat trick Feb. 6 against No. 4 Cal at the Stanford Invitational and has four multiple goal games on the season. White scored a pair of goals and dropped an assist in consecutive games at the UC Irvine Invitational Feb. 27-28, including a two-goal, four-steal, one-assist outburst in a win over No. 5 Michigan. She finished the four-game tournament with five goals, three assists and five steals.

MIGHTY MARIAM
 Sophomore attacker Mariam Salloum is tied for the team lead with nine assists and her 15 goals are good enough for second on the team. She has 24 points on the season, tied for tops on the team, three hat tricks and 10 steals. At the UC Irvine Invitational Feb. 27-28, Salloum notched four goals, five steals and a pair of assists.

AHEAD OF THE PACK
 Freshman center Shannon Haas has netted 10 goals and grabbed four steals in 11 games this season. The team leader among freshman in goals and points found the back of the net five times during the UC Irvine Invitational Feb. 27-28, and has three multiple goal games on the season. The Murrieta, Calif., native notched her first career hat trick Feb. 27 in a 14-4 win over No. 9 CS Northridge.

GROUP EFFORT
 Thirteen different Sun Devils have scored a goal through 11 matches this season and 11 have recorded multiple goal games, including seven with hat tricks. ASU has also not been shy about distributing the ball as 13 players have an assist this year, including eight with two or more in a game.

TWENTY-POINT CLUB
 White, Carter, Salloum and Smith have all amassed over 20 points through 11 games this season. Each have scored over 12 goals and collected more than five assists. Salloum is 16th in the MPSF in goals per game with 1.36, while Smith and Carter are tied for sixth at 1.64 per game.

IN THE CAGE
 Sophomore goalie Dana Harvey has recorded 62 saves and allowed just 36 goals in 10 starts this season. Harvey and freshman Amanda Young split time in the cage through the first two games at the UC Irvine Invitational Feb. 27 before Young took over for the final two games Feb. 28. Young recorded 12 saves in an 11-6 win over No. 5 Michigan and grabbed six against No. 6 Hawai'i. She made her first career start Feb. 6 against No. 4 Cal, blocking seven shots in four quarters of play. The Fountain Valley, Calif., native has collected 44 saves through eight games this season.

FOUR SEASONS OF HISTORY
 With three assists and a pair of goals in four games Feb. 27-28 at the UC Irvine Invitational, senior attacker Bonnie Miles moved into the top-three on ASU's career assists list with 77 and into 10th place on the school's all-time scoring list with 60. She is also sixth on the career points list with 137. Senior center Kelly Phelps is in the top five in Sun Devil history in both goals scored (114) and points (158). She is fourth in goals scored and trails Tessa Wyborny by one point for fourth in career points. In addition, she has 44 assists in her career, just one behind sixth place.

PLAY THE BEST TO BE THE BEST
 The Sun Devils have faced a ranked opponent in all 11 of their matches this season, including five in the top-five and nine in the top-10, according to the National Collegiate Poll rankings. During the course of the season, they are set to play upwards of 22 games against teams ranked in the top-20 of either Division I or III.

A BUSY SUMMER
 It was a busy July for the Sun Devils overseas as four student-athletes and head coach Todd Clapper competed in the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome, while junior attacker Candice Phillippe played in the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia. Smith, Harvey and Clapper represented New Zealand. Smith scored seven goals and had three assists in six games and Clapper led the squad to a third place finish in their group and 12th overall. Junior attacker Sarah Harris led South Africa in goals scored with eight, and Salloum had two goals and an assist for Germany in six games.

A LOOK BACK AT 2009

 For the first time in program history, the Sun Devils were ranked in the top-10 all last season. They moved as high as fifth in the March 4 poll and ended the season ranked 10th. The team started the season 6-0 and set a school record in average goals-per-game with 10 and a half. They had multiple All-Americans for the second season in a row as departed senior Addison McGrath was a First-Team selection and Smith collected Honorable Mention honors.

ANNABELLE AND SARAH'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
 Carter, a native of Sydney, Australia, and Harris, who hails from Cape Town, South Africa, joined the team in mid-January and will look to contribute immediately. Carter attended the Australia College of Physical Education in Sydney for two years and was selected to compete for the Australian U17 team in 2006 and the U20 team in 2008. Harris attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., for one year and then attended school back home in South Africa before coming to Tempe. Her team-high 102 points were tops in the MPSF, as was her 3.40 goals per game average. She was named an All-MPSF Honorable Mention, the lone freshman selected to any All-American Team.

CALIFORNIA LOVE 
 The Sun Devils may not play a home match until the end of March, but don't tell that to the players. Eleven girls are natives of California and all of ASU's road matches are in the state of California. ASU will play scrimmages in Irvine, Calif., and Los Angeles, invitationals at Stanford, UC Irvine and Cal Lutheran, and MPSF conference games at UCLA, Long Beach State, San Jose State and Stanford.

IN THE SERIES... CS NORTHRIDGE 
 This is the second consecutive week the Sun Devils will open their weekend against CS Northridge. Last weekend, ASU defeated the Matadors 14-4 in the first game of the UC Irvine Invitational behind Carter's four goals. The Sun Devils lead the all-time series with the Matadors 9-4. The Matadors were part of the MPSF from 2005 to 2008, and the Sun Devils were 3-1 against them in MPSF regular season games, losing to CS Northridge in 2005 before winning each of the last four years.

IN THE SERIES... CS EAST BAY
 
 This is the first meeting between the two teams.

IN THE SERIES... WHITTIER
 This is the first meeting between the two teams.

IN THE SERIES... CS MONTEREY BAY 
 This is the first meeting between the two teams.

IN THE SERIES... POMONA PITZER
 The Sun Devils are 2-0 against Pomona Pitzer all-time. ASU faced the Sagehens both times in 2003, defeating them 8-7 at the UC Irvine Invitational and then 10-3 at the Claremont Invitational.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
 The Sun Devils welcome seven freshman to the team this season: defender Becca Clopp, Haas, center Kramer Greenberg, attacker Morgan Leech, attacker Searra Silverberg, center Paige Walters and Young. In addition, Carter and Harris are in their first season with ASU.

SO INTERNATIONAL
 From South Africa to Germany, there are Sun Devils all over the world. Eight players from five different countries are on the ASU roster, meaning close to half of the team hails from outside of the United States. Harvey, sophomore center Bella Morrison and Smith are from New Zealand, White and Harris grew up in South Africa, Phillippe is a native of Canada, and Salloum is from Germany.

NEXT TIME OUT 
 The Sun Devils open MPSF conference play March 13 at UCLA. ASU will face the Bruins at 1:00 p.m. (PST) in Los Angeles before playing a non-conference match March 14 against Long Beach State at 12:00 p.m. (PST) in Long Beach, Calif.