The ASU water polo team will be saying goodbye to senior Petra Pardi this weekend, gearing up against a powerful conference foe.
The Sun Devils will be going up against UCLA, one of the best teams in the NCAA. Last year, UCLA made it to the championship and lost to Stanford 9-5.
The Bruins are currently on a 10-game win streak, and have only lost one game this season, falling to Stanford 10-6 back in February.
ASU is coming off a weekend where it played both Stanford and Hartwick, and experienced just how good Stanford is. Head coach Todd Clapper draws similarities between Stanford and UCLA.
“From a sense of a lot of their strengths they are similar to Stanford in that their speed and movement and counter attack is a big part of their game,” Clapper said. “So the game plan is a little bit different, but from the standpoint of trying to turn it into a half-court game, it is the same. We are really working on defending the counter attack and breaking the press.”
Because UCLA and Stanford have very similar playing styles, Clapper believes that facing Stanford was good preparation for another fast-paced team.
“It was good to get a feel for that kind of speed, because we hadn't really played against that in a while,” Clapper said. “(USC) was the last team that we had, which was really quick, hard attacking team, so it was nice to get that game and get used to the speed of what this game is going to be like on Saturday.”
The game against UCLA marks the final regular season home game for the Sun Devils before they once again go on the road to face California in Berkeley.
It will also mark the final regular season home game ever for senior attacker Petra Pardi. Pardi is the sole senior on the team. Pardi played for ASU all four years, and contributed greatly in her time on the team.
In her junior year, she was the team’s top point scorer with 80, averaging 1.61 goals per game. Pardi has scored 31 goals and has 13 assists this season, adding up to a grand total of 44 points.
“It’s been nice not having to have been on the road, and nice for everybody to sleep in their own bed,” Clapper said. “Saturday is our last real regular season home game for Petra. In that respect, it is a pretty special day. She has been a real special player for us over the last four years, and we’d like nothing more than to send her out with a win.”
With the regular season coming to an end, the team is looking towards the near future, where it looks to finish strong in both the MPSF and NCAA.
“You kind of have that in that back of your head, but the nice thing about that is that we play Cal on Sunday and then we have a little under two weeks to prepare for that first conference game,” Clapper said. “There is a good chance Cal is going to be our first conference team, so it looks like we have a good almost three weeks to prepare for that game if it is Cal. We are not really thinking too far ahead.”
Reach the reporter at mtsteine@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @MarcTSteiner.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
