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Water Polo Travels to No. 1 USC for Season Finale

Apr 15, 2021

TEMPE, ARIZ.— The Arizona State water polo team will hit the road to Los Angeles, California to face the undefeated University of Southern California Trojans for the final games of the regular season on April 17-18. USC is currently undefeated, and has sat atop the Collegiate Water Polo Association women's varsity polls for the last 10 straight weeks, meanwhile ASU remained in the five spot despite upsetting No. 2 UCLA last Saturday, and taking the Bruins to sudden death on Sunday.

The Sun Devils hosted USC for a pair of games earlier this season, and dropped game one by a score of 16-8, but held the Trojans to their lowest scoring game of the season in the 6-5 game two loss. 
 

This will be just the second road series for the Sun Devils after going 0-2 in Berkeley against The California Golden Bears. Both competitions against the Trojans will count as conference games, as opposed to the two earlier this season that were non conference meetings. The Sun Devils currently sit third in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference with a 6-4 record, sitting behind USC (1.000) and UCLA (0.800). 

How to watch:Both matinee games will be watchable via the USC Live Stream. Saturday's competition is at 12:00 PM MST, and the regular season finale is at 11:00 am MST on Sunday.  The USC stream can be found here: https://pac-12.com/live/usc-2

Record Book Update: Bente Rogge is currently eighth all-time in career goals scored in program history, with 144. She sits behind Lynlee Smith who holds No. 7 all-time with 156 goals. 

On watch: Luca Petovary, the reigning MPSF Newcomer of the Week, has the team lead 38 goals, which has cemented her in the record books in the all-time freshman goals scored. Petovary passed Lieke Rogge, who was ninth, with her five goals against UCLA last weekend. She currently is one goal shy of Maud Koopman who is seventh all-time. 

About the Sun Devils (12-7, 6-4):

  • Luca Petovary is the reigning MPSF Newcomer of the Week, meanwhile USC's Denise Mammolito was named MPSF Player of the Week. 
  • Chelsea Karimazondo's 101 saves are second in the MPSF and sixth best in the NCAA.
  • Their No. 5 ranking is just the program's 39th time in this position.
  • This is the ninth straight week the Sun Devils have been ranked in the top five of the CWPA polls.
  • Luca Petovary is tied for second in the MPSF in goals with 38, and is tied for eighth in the NCAA. She is also the only freshman in the top 10 list.
  • Bente Rogge and Lara Kiss lead the MPSF in field blocks with 16 and 15, respectively. They sit at third and fourth in the NCAA.
  • Kiss is second in assists with 22 in the MPSF behind IU's Zoe Crouch (35).
  • Blaire McDowell is second in steals in the MPSF with 28, behind teammate Rogge who is tied for the lead with 29. 
  • Karimazondo had 23 saves last weekend against UCLA.

About the Trojans (14-0, 6-0):

  • USC leads the all-time series 32-2 over the Sun Devils
  • The Trojans are 8-0 at home, and boast a 6-0 conference record.
  • USC won the 2019 and 2018 MPSF conference championships.
  • USC has two NCAA titles since 2016.
  • The Trojans have not lost a game since February 9, 2020.
  • They have won 20 straight games dating back to last season. 
  • The Trojans came into the season ranked number 1 in the CWPA preseason polls, after finishing the 2020 season 12-1.
  • USC's only loss to ASU was in 2008.
  • The Trojans are averaging a little over 13 goals/game this season.