(Photo Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
After a two-week hiatus, Arizona State Water Polo (16-5, 0-2 MPSF) hosts the red-hot Indiana Hoosiers (16-6, 0-2 MPSF) in a Saturday afternoon clash, as two sides seeking its first conference victory of the season go head to head.
The Sun Devils are coming off of a hard-fought loss to No. 1 Stanford 18-12. Junior attacker Millie Quin netted four goals and also tallied an assist to lead the way for ASU while junior center Sophie Shorter-Robinson added a hat trick as well. The duo has been elite for the Sun Devils throughout the year and will be key in the matchup with the Hoosiers.
The game however came with some sour news for ASU. Head Coach Petra Pardi announced to the media after the game that junior starting goalkeeper Sanne Keijzer would miss the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury. Keijzer had played sparingly due to injury during the season but her injury gives the Sun Devils a chance to find out what they have with highly touted freshman goalkeeper, Keri Gladd.
Last weekend, IU won four consecutive games at the Aztec Invite including three ranked victories. The Hoosiers defeated No. 12 Princeton and Cal State Fullerton on Saturday before coming back and winning their final two games over No. 20 San Diego State and No. 8 Harvard the following Sunday. The Harvard game needed three overtimes for a winner to be decided and IU eventually was able to pull away, 17-16, a remarkable victory over a top-10 team.
Junior attacker Louisa Downes was particularly excellent for IU scoring an astonishing 18 points over the course of those four games. She found the back of the net 12 times and was able to set up her teammates six times on assists. For her impressive performance, she was granted the MPSF Player of the Week award on Tuesday.
Another player to watch for the Hoosiers is senior attacker Skylar Kidd. Kidd has recorded 50 goals on the year and 79 points, cementing herself as one of the best players in the nation. This past week, she was named to the Cutino Award watch list, the award given to the best player in college water polo. Stopping her will be a point of emphasis for the Sun Devils on Saturday.
ASU and IU are familiar foes, they met earlier in the year and the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Long Beach, a match won by the Sun Devils, 14-12 in overtime. Freshman attacker Itziar Almeda netted two goals in overtime, coming up huge for ASU in a win that aged very well over the course of the season. Quin was the story for the Sun Devils however, with six goals she led the way for ASU and kept them in the game in the process. Of note, the aforementioned Keijzer, who will not play Saturday, started the game for ASU scoring the game-tying goals which sent the game to overtime.
Saturday will be another test for ASU with a first MPSF win of the season on the line as it looks for its first conference win in the friendly confines of Tempe.
