The No. 5 ASU Water Polo team is heading into their eighth season with Head Coach Todd Clapper, and the expectations are high.
The 2017 Sun Devils are boasting potentially the most talented group they have had in years with players like junior goalkeeper Mia Rycraw and senior center Alkistis Benekou.
The excitement over the ranking is obvious among players, but it's not what Clapper is focusing on.
Clapper said he's more interested in preparing for each game as this season may be one of the most rigorous ones in recent history. Sophomore attacker Maud Koopman said the training the team has already put in this preseason will pay off.
“There are a lot of different people on the team now, but I think we’re doing a great job,” Koopman told USA Water Polo Thursday. “We have a lot of potential with this team, with all of the new players and I think we can go really far.”
With so many players in the NCAA taking the previous season off to train for the Olympic games, the competition this year will be different, Clapper said.
“With those players back, this will be a challenging year,” Clapper said. “Our conference is strong and this year will be one of the strongest in recent history.”
Clapper said there is a lot to learn from their exhibition games against the New York Athletic Club last week, where the Sun Devils won two of four games.
They will also face ten teams on their schedule this season that were either ranked or received votes in the 2017 Preseason Women's Varsity National Top 25 poll released Friday by the Collegiate Water Polo Association. One of those matches is a March 11 meeting with preseason No. 1 Stanford Cardinals.
While the Sun Devils have had success against these teams in past seasons, it is hard to mimic that success with the rosters constantly changing.
“These are talented, well-coached teams,” Clapper said. “We have to prepare as much as we can before each and every game.”
One of the things that Clapper mentioned was consistency from play to play. In order for the team to be triumphant they cannot deviate from what they have learned, Mia Rycraw said in an interview with USA Water Polo.
“The competition is going to be a lot harder, but I think that through our training we will definitely rise to the occasion and I think we’re going to have a good season,” Rycraw said.
Clapper asked a lot of new players to step into key roles, as he pointed out with players like freshman attacker Bente Rogge, who came to the team from the Netherlands.
Big name returners like Lena Mihailovic, Maud Koopman andPJ Allin are expected to be difference-makers for the Sun Devils this season.
The Sun Devils will rely on Alkistis Benekou's dominance as a center player and her ability to maintain a consistent front court attack. Benekou is back for the 2017 season after taking last season off. Benekou has 97 goals in her career and is creeping into ASU’s all-time top 10 -- a mere 20 goals behind former ASU player Ashley Bower.
The water polo season does not officially begin until the ASU Tournament where they will take on No. 9 University of California-Santa Barbara, No. 15 San Diego State and No. 20 Wagner at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center Jan. 28-29.
Reach the reporter at klbroder@asu.edu or follow @KellyB1459 on Twitter.
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