(Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
Arizona State water polo (6-1) looks to make a splash in the Triton Invitational, in San Diego its third Invitational tournament to begin the 2025 season. ASU will play four games starting Friday in La Jolla including two on Saturday and another on Sunday. After going 2-1 in the Aloha Invitational, head coach Petra Pardi’s side will face another weekend of stiff competition.
In Hawaii, the No. 7 Sun Devils beat No. 11 Loyola Marymount University in double overtime along Biola University (Calif.) before, however, falling short of No. 5 Hawaii after a treacherous start to the contest falling behind 8-2 in the first half.
Statistically, the Sun Devils’ offense will be hard to defend, as they have three of the top four Mountain Pacific Sports Federation goal leaders. Freshman attacker Itziar Almeda leads the conference in assists and is ranked fifth in performance score, according to 68 Sports.
ASU’s defense is rolling too with freshman goalie Keri Glad and junior goalie Sanne Keijzer ranked in the top five in MPSF in saves. Junior attacker Millie Quin is ranked tied-fourth in MPSF in steals.
The Sun Devils head to La Jolla for UC San Diego’s Triton Invitational. The 16-team field is stacked with thirteen top-25 programs and seven schools ranked in the top ten according to the Collegiate Water Polo Association.
Instead of the typical format where every team plays each other, the Triton Invitational will be a bracket style with every team playing four games. On Friday, ASU starts against tournament host No. 14 UC San Diego (3-3). The Tritons’ three losses have come against top-seven-ranked teams.
Last year, the Sun Devils beat the Tritons twice including kicking off the Triton Invitational against UC San Diego where they won 12-11. Across the two games, current ASU players scored 15 of the 21 Quin scoring eleven with junior center Sophie Shorter-Robinson and sophomore attacker Jasmijn Dikmans scoring two apiece. The Tritons spread the ball around more with their top goal scorer last year against the Sun Devils being senior attacker Courtney Okumura with three.
On Saturday, the Sun Devils will then play the winner or loser of No. 1 UCLA or Concordia depending on the result of their matchup against UC San Diego. Last year, ASU dropped their second game of the Triton Invitational and a conference matchup to the Bruins. ASU beat Concordia last year, in the Convergence Tournament.
Later on Saturday, the Sun Devils will take on a ranked California school. Of the four possible teams they could play, ASU has already defeated No. 18 San Diego State and No. 22 California Baptist this year winning 19-13 and 16-10 respectively, both in the ASU Invitational. They could also play No. 6 UC Irvine or No. 10 Long Beach State.
To wrap up the tournament ASU will play on Sunday and will face one of eight possible teams to decide its position. A few notable teams ASU could see are No. 5 Hawaii or No. 11 LMU both teams ASU played last week in the Aloha Invitational, along with No. 21 UC Davis who the Sun Devils beat in the ASU Invitational, and MPSF conference rival No. 3 USC.
This tournament will get a clearer picture of where ASU ranks among ranked teams as the Sun Devils expect to have tough opponents throughout the weekend by the beaches of scenic San Diego.
