April 15, 2010

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TEMPE, Ariz.- The ninth-ranked Arizona State University women's water polo team (15-11, 0-6 MPSF) closes out it's 2010 MPSF conference schedule April 17 at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe as they host No. 14 San Diego State at 11:30 a.m. (PST). ASU finishes the 2010 regular season the following day, April 18, with a home match against No. 15 Indiana at 10:00 a.m. (PST).

SENIOR DAY Sunday, April 18 marks the final regular season match and final home appearance for senior attackers Kari Walsh and Bonnie Miles, and senior center Kelly Phelps. The trio has been an integral part of the Sun Devil women's water polo program for the last four years, contributing both in and out of the pool.

PICKING UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF Junior attacker Lynlee Smith surpassed the 60-point mark April 3 against No. 3 California after recording a goal and an assist. Last year's leading scorer has 45 goals and 15 assists, and has notched a goal in 23 of 25 matches this season. The Auckland, New Zealand, native has five hat tricks this season, is tops on the team with 13 multiple goal games and her 110 career scores are fifth in school history. She is the team leader with 60 points and has 150 points in her career, seventh most in school history. At the ASU Invitational March 26-28, she collected 11 goals and three assists in four games, and scored at least once in all four of the matches.

SPREADING THE WEALTH Sophomore attacker Mariam Salloum has a team-leading 26 assists and is second on the team with 46 points. Coupled with her 26 helpers last season, Salloum is in one behind fifth place on the school's career assists list with 52. She also has 20 goals on the season, including three hat tricks, and 22 steals. After collecting six assists March 26-28 at the ASU Invitational, including a three-assist performance vs. Cal Baptist, she recorded one dime against both No. 3 California April 3 and No. 1 USC April 10.

A CONSISTENT FORCE After scoring five goals at the ASU Invitational March 26-28, junior center Nikki Unbehaun took hold of 10th place on the school's career goals list with 69. One of the key returning players from last season's team, Unbehaun has recorded 26 goals and five assists this season while starting a majority of the Sun Devils' 26 games. She found the back of the net three times March 28 vs. Santa Clara and has eight multiple goal games on the year, including a pair of four-goal performances.

AHEAD OF THE PACK Freshman center Shannon Haas collected a quartet of goals April 10 vs. No 1 USC and moved into second in school history in goals scored by a freshman with 42. The Murrieta, Calif., native is second on the team in goals, and is the team leader among freshman in goals, points (44) and steals (15). Her 42 goals are second most amongst MPSF freshmen and she is second on the team with 11 multiple goal games this season, including six in which she has found the back of the net three or more times.

HARRISING THE OPPOSITION Junior attacker Sarah Harris followed a five-goal performance against No. 3 California April 3 with one score and a steal vs. No. 1 USC April 10 and now has 33 goals on the season, which ranks third on the team. She is tops on the team with 28 steals, is third on the squad in points with 45 and has recorded 12 assists in her first season with the Sun Devils. A former standout at Pacific, she has also won 65 of 79 sprints this season. After six MPSF matches this season, Harris is the team leader in goals (13) and points (15), and is second in steals (seven) in conference play. A consistent starter, she is third on the team with nine multiple goal games this season, including three games in which she has scored three or more goals.

AN EMERGING STAR With 24 goals and 15 assists on the season, sophomore attacker Kelsey White has more than tripled her numbers from last year. Her 39 points rank sixth on the team and her 26 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 six multiple goal games on the season. White had a trio of assists for the first time in her career and a netted a goal in a losing effort vs. No. 3 California April 3 in Tempe.

AMAZIN' ANNABELLE Sophomore attacker Annabelle Carter is fifth on the team with 40 points after collecting 15 assists, which is second on the team, and scoring 25 goals through 26 games. Her six-goal performance Jan. 30 against UC Irvine still ranks as the most goals by a Sun Devil in a single-game this season. Carter scored a goal in the second quarter of a close loss to No. 3 California April 3 at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center to record her first goal in an MPSF Conference match.

THE LEAGUE TAKES NOTICE For two consecutive weeks from March 29 to April 5, a Sun Devil was awarded MPSF Mikasa Newcomer of the Week honors by the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Haas first took the accolade in the week following the ASU Invitational March 26-28 and Harris earned the honor after a five-goal performance against No. 3 California April 3.

GROUP EFFORT Thirteen of the 16 different Sun Devils who have scored a goal through 26 matches this season have recorded multiple goal games, including nine with three or more scores in a single game. Smith is the team leader in multiple goal games with 13, while Haas is second with 11 and Harris sits in third with nine. ASU has also not been shy about distributing the ball, as 18 players have an assist this year, including 12 with two or more in a game. Salloum, who has three hat tricks this season, paces the team with six multiple assist games, including a trio of three-assist performances.

PAST THE CENTURY MARK With 16 saves in the last two matches, including six April 10 against No 1 USC, sophomore goalie Dana Harvey has recorded 100 saves in consecutive seasons and sits in fourth place on the school's career saves list with 231. She has made 106 saves and allowed 84 goals in 13 starts this season and has seen action in 18 matches. Harvey collected a season-high 14 saves in a 13-3 victory over UC Irvine Jan. 30.

YEARS BEYOND HER LAST NAME Freshman Amanda Young, who has collected 115 saves and given up 108 goals in 13 starts, already ranks sixth at ASU in career saves in just her first season in Tempe. She began all four matches of the ASU Invitational March 26-28 in front of the net and finished the weekend with 21 saves.

FOUR SEASONS OF HISTORY Miles is third on ASU's career assists list with 82 and sixth on the career points list with 152. She climbed to ninth on the school's all-time scoring list with six goals at the ASU Invitational March 26-28 and now has 70 on her career. Miles also is tied for 10th in school history with 74 career steals. Following four goals in five games March 6-7 at the CLU Spring Classic, Phelps moved into the top four in Sun Devil history in both goals scored and points. After finding the back of the net April 3 against No. 3 California, she is third in career goals with 120 and fourth in career points at 164. She also has 44 assists in her career, just one shy of seventh place.

HALFWAY TO A FULL CIRCLE ASU's victory over Long Beach State March 14 gave head coach Todd Clapper his 180th career victory. Clapper, who is in his 11th year as a head coach and fifth with the Sun Devils, now has 78 wins with the Sun Devils and 183 career triumphs.

GETTING THEIR FEET WET Freshman center Paige Walters had a career day March 27 at the ASU Invitational. In her first regular season action for the Sun Devils, the Ann Arbor, Mich., native scored her first career goal and recorded her first career assist in a win over Concordia. Also seeing her first minutes of the regular season, freshman center Kramer Greenberg secured her first career helper in the second half of the Sun Devil's victory against the Eagles. Walters, Greenberg and redshirt freshman center Kaileigh Esson, who also played in her first regular season match March 27, all appeared in the second half of the match vs. Santa Clara March 28. Esson appeared in her first MPSF Conference match April 10 vs. No. 1 USC.

PLAY THE BEST TO BE THE BEST The Sun Devils started the season with 14 straight matches versus opponents ranked in the top-20 and have faced a ranked opponent in 21 of their 26 matches this season, including 10 against top-five teams and 13 versus those in the top-10, according to the Division I National Collegiate Poll rankings. ASU has also played a pair of teams in the top-10 of the Division III National Collegiate Poll rankings, including top-ranked Pomona Pitzer and No. 6 Whittier. The Sun Devils are 10-11 against these top teams and during the course of the season they are set to play upwards of 23 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 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. 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.

IN THE SERIES... SAN DIEGO STATE Arizona State is 3-9 in the all-time series against San Diego State. The Aztecs defeated the Sun Devils three times last season, including a 12-11 victory April 26 at the MPSF Conference Championships in Honolulu, Hawai'i. The Sun Devils are 2-4 against the Aztecs in MPSF regular season contests.

IN THE SERIES... INDIANA ASU has won three consecutive matches over Indiana and is 3-3 in the all-time series. The Sun Devils' last victory over the Hoosiers came on Feb. 7, 2009, when ASU won 10-9 in double overtime at the Stanford Invitational. They also defeated the Hoosiers 12-3 at the 2008 Michigan Invitational and 18-7 at the 2007 Stanford Invitational.

HOME SWEET HOME After 20 matches on the road, the Sun Devils won three games in their first weekend back in the Valley of the Sun March 26-28. ASU defeated Cal Baptist 14-13, Concordia 19-7 and Santa Clara 11-4 at the annual ASU Invitational at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK The Sun Devils welcome seven freshman to the team this season: defender Becca Clopp, Haas, Greenberg, attackers Morgan Leech and Searra Silverberg, 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 head to Los Angeles for the MPSF Championships April 30 to May 2 at UCLA.