2024 Sun Devil Water Polo Season Recap

Petra Pardi’s second season at the helm of Sun Devil Water Polo consisted of breaking records, memories being made, and forming the program's future with a balance of youth and experience that shaped the successful 2024 season. Let’s recap the season highlighting plenty of positives to carry into 2025.

Let’s Review:

Sun Devil Water Polo had their second winningest season in their 23rd year of existence, going 23-8 after starting out 11-1 which is the third-best start in program history. The Sun Devils managed 12 wins over ranked opponents in 2024 and increased their win total by 12 games from the 2023 season.

SUN DEVIL WATER POLO MOST WINS:

2013: 26-7
2012: 26-6

2024: 23-8
2016: 21-8 (NCAA)

2008: 21-13
2017: 20-7
2003: 20-18

Among the 23 wins, two victories came against top-10 competition early in the season with a last-second 12-11 victory to then-No. 9 UC San Diego in the Triton Invitational and then finishing fifth for the week with a 10-8 win over then-No.10 Michigan. The impressive performance against top competition vaulted the Sun Devils into the top 10 nationally, reaching as high as No. 7 in the CWPA ranking and remaining inside the top 10 for the rest of the year.

Throughout the season, the maroon & gold had two six-game winning streaks at different points of the year, including six wins over ranked opponents. The Sun Devils continued their winning ways in conference play over San Jose State, winning their 11th straight over the Spartans and defeating Indiana in both matchups this year. Including a 10-8 win in the MPSF tournament over the Hoosiers. 

Lastly, for the first time in program history, senior Luca Petovary was named MPSF’s Player of the Year, the second major award winner in program history, and the first time a Sun Devil has won the honor. But it wouldn’t be the only history she would make this season.

RECORD BREAKERS:

Luca Petovary re-wrote the history books this season by scoring a program record with 122 goals and breaking a 26-year MPSF record for most goals in a season, earning her conference player of the year. In her senior season alone, she talled 25 hat-tricks and 11 games with five goals or more. She tallied goals in 30 of 31 games for an average of 3.93 goals a game.

In addition, Petovary broke the all-time scoring record finishing with 252 career goals in her four years as a Sun Devil, breaking Addison McGrath’s mark of 237 goals on March 23rd against San Jose State, posting six goals in the team’s 15-10 victory. 

She also became the single-season points leader with 151 this past season and broke the MPSF and program record for most goals in a game with 10 against Mount St. Mary’s on March 1st. 

Petovary wasn’t the only athlete to re-write the record books this season, Lara Kiss became the program's all-time assists leader, finishing with 141 and achieving a career-high 43 assists in 2024. 

Lastly, Millie Quin made an impact in her first season in Tempe, accounting for the fifth most goals in a season by a Sun Devil with 73 and accounting for 42 assists to tally 115 points in 2024 which all ranked second in the MPSF Conference, earning her All-MPSF Second-Team honors. Quin and Petovary became the first duo in Sun Devil history to total at least 100 points in a season.

FRESHMAN FLASHES:

The program welcomed seven freshmen to Tempe who made strides in the 2024 season and gave the team much-needed depth throughout the year and shaping the future of the program.

Kat Featherstone led freshmen with 17 goals and 14 assists on the year, and also had 11 steals on the year. She had four multi-goal games and a season-high four goals in a win against Biola. Jasmijn Dikmans made an impact with 13 goals and 16 assists and provided another attacker on the offensive end with four multi-goal games.

Both coming from California, Alison Kokorowski and Gabby Gaetano each blossomed as the season progressed, coming off the bench and providing scoring chances for the Sun Devils. Kokorowski scored 14 goals which featured a stretch of scoring a goal in seven of eight games. For Gaetano, she had three hat-tricks over the year for 14 goals and nine assists, while adding six steals.

Ashley Ferguson ended the season on a high note with goals in both MPSF tournament games, scoring in three of the last four games. 

SCORING IN BUNCHES:

The Sun Devils scored at a very high clip in its 2024 campaign, scoring 417 goals which led the entire MPSF conference and being the only team to surpass 400 goals this season. The maroon & gold averaged 13.5 goals and scored double-digits in 22 games this season, accounting for about 71% of games and went 20-2 in such games when the team scored 10+ goals.

In the first game of the year against Cal Lutheran, the team scored 26 goals which broke the record for most goals in a game and is the largest margin of victory, setting fireworks in the season opener. 

In addition, the team surpassed the 20-goal mark in seven games. For reference, the Sun Devils has seven games of 20 goals or more from 2015 to 2023 and outscored opponents 417-245 this year for an outstanding goal differential of 172. 

Goalie Sanne Keijzer joined the team in December and made an impact right away in the cage with 20 saves in her second collegiate game in a win against No. 20 Wagner, marking the third most by an ASU goalie and the most in ten seasons. She made 214 saves on the year, and scored a hat trick against California, ultimately ending with six goals on the year with six assists. In closing, she had six games with double-digit saves. 

Sun Devil Water Polo is looking forward to maintaining the momentum from this season going into 2025.

HOW TO FOLLOW:

Continue following Sun Devil Water Polo on Twitter/X, Instagram, and Facebook all offseason long on @SunDevilWP for coverage of the team, alumnae and Olympic updates. Stats can be found on 6-8 Sports and TheFosh along with other MPSF Conference teams.