No. 14 Sun Devils sweep Cross Conference Challenge, begin season 4-0

(Photo: Xavier Litman/WCSN)

The Arizona State water polo team opened their season this weekend by playing in the Cross Conference Challenge tournament. The Sun Devils entered the season ranked No. 14 under head coach Petra Pardi, who is in her second year at the helm for the Sun Devils. Last season, Pardi finished with a record of 11-13.

Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, freshman utility player Juliette Dhalluin, who was All-American honors last season and became the second Sun Devil freshman to cross the 70-goal mark, will be absent for the duration of the season as she is a member of the French National Team preparing for the 2024 Olympics.

However, returning to Tempe for the Sun Devils this year will be senior attacker Luca Petovary. She has led the Sun Devils in scoring for the past three seasons dating back to 2021. In her Sun Devil career, Petovary has totaled 130 career goals and 24 multi-goal games since the start of the 2022 season.

Including Petovary, the Sun Devils have 11 players returning to play in Tempe. However, ASU also added 10 new players joining the team, with the players coming from over five different countries.

Historically, these tournaments to open the season have been good for the Sun Devils, going 58-21 across nearly 80 games since 2002, and the good play continued for the Devils in 2024.

After two wins to begin the tournament on Saturday, the Sun Devils began their day on Sunday with a match against the Loyola Marymount University Lions from the West Coast Conference. The Lions came into this game ranked No. 18 in the nation as voted on by the CWPA.

Unlike the weather at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center, both offenses started out hot, as a combined nine goals were scored in the first quarter. ASU had three players score three goals, outscoring the Lions 7-3 after the first quarter and stretching the lead to as big as six.

After the first concluded and the rain in Tempe picked up, the ASU defense stood on its head for the rest of the game, only conceding 2 goals.

Pardi credits the change in the second half to “Our patience, controlling the offense and not rushing early.”

Petrovey and Captain Lara Kiss lead the way, with each of them registering 3 blocks and 1 steal.

The Sun Devils’ penalty kill stood strong as they killed 9 out of 12 penalties successfully, which went a long way to get the winning result. On the power play the Sun Devils converted 50% of their power plays as they converted 3 goals on their 6 possessions.

Goalie Sanne Keijzer had 7 saves and finished with a 50 percent save percentage as the sun devils took game one with a final score of 12-7 in their first game on Sunday.

In the second game on Sunday, the Sun Devils ended on a super high note, scoring 20 goals in a 20-5 rout over the Salem Tigers. The Tigers came into the cross-conference tournament looking for revenge against the Sun Devils after losing last year 24-5. It’s the third all-time meeting against Salem, with ASU holding a 2-0 advantage.

The score was 7-1 at the end of the first, and coach Pardi made a goalie substitution, allowing freshman Erika Staine to enter the game. She made 5 saves on 9 shots, allowing 4 goals.

The real factor of this game was the Sun Devils offense. ASU scored 7 goals in the first quarter, which ended up being enough to get the win over the Tigers. Petovary, sophomore center Sophie Shorter-Robinson and sophomore attacker Millie Quinn each had 5 goals to secure the tournament sweep.

ASU finished 4-0 in the tournament and dominated every game that they played in. The Sun Devils’ goal differential was +50 as they scored 74 goals over the 4 games and allowed just 24 goals.

Next up, ASU will travel to UC San Diego on February 2nd to compete in the Triton Invitational.