Coming off an impressive showing and a third-place finish at last weekend’s UC Irvine Invitational, the UCLA women’s water polo team will look to continue its strong start in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play as they travel to Tempe on Saturday to take on Arizona State. The No. 3 Bruins (11-3, 2-0) enter the match having won six of the last seven games, with the only loss coming by a single goal to No. 1 USC. Meanwhile No. 6 ASU, who placed 6th at Irvine, will be playing their conference opener after going 9-5 in preseason and tournament action.
The key to the Bruins’ hot streak has been a shutdown defense that hasn’t allowed a double-digit goal total to any opponent in their last seven games and are giving up an average of just six goals per game in that span.
In looking to shut down the Sun Devils, UCLA will have to neutralize ASU senior Addison McGrath, a 2008 First Team All-American who already holds the school record for career goals and career points. As expected, McGrath has paced the Sun Devils this year, leading the way with 38 goals. On the offensive side, UCLA senior Tanya Gandy has led the way with 35 goals thanks to multiple goal efforts in 11 of the team’s 14 games. In recent weeks the Bruins have brought a more balanced attack, with sophomore attackers Camy Sullivan and Kelsey McGinley leading the second-half surge that almost resulted in the upset of USC. It was the seniors that stepped up in the third-place game at Irvine against Hawai’i, with Gandy and fellow attackers Anne Belden and Katie Rulon each tallying three goals in the 12-7 victory.
The Bruins have officially only played two conference games, but thanks to the number of competitive preseason tournaments, they have gotten a chance to play each of their MPSF foes except Arizona State. The Sun Devils have struggled against the country’s elite teams, having lost twice to USC by a combined 19 goals, and having also fallen to No. 2 Stanford and then-No.6 San Diego State.