May 14, 2016
LOS ANGELES -
2016 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship
Dirks Pool at Spieker Aquatics Center ââ'¬" Game #6 (Consolation)
Arizona State 7, San Diego State 5
San Diego State Quotes
Head Coach Carin Crawford opening statement:
"It was a very physical game, a very hard-fought game. I think except for a bad third quarter, we traded goals. We actually won the second half of the game. We struggled against their very physical press. I think that was the difference. The other factor in the loss, I think it was our turnovers and we were chasing a lot, that takes a lot of energy. We were scrambling back on defense and we were successful on many of those chases, but it takes a lot of energy to recover on the counter attack. In the end, we were in the game and that was our goal to push the game in the fourth quarter. I am really proud of our team for doing that and we just came up a little bit short on our effort to come back from digging a 4-1 hole in the first half."
On her team's fight to get back in the game:
"Our fight song ends with Aztec fight and my most important thing is to feel like this is a team that will never give up no matter what the score or the situation. We have made sure to schedule a tough schedule this season in order to put ourselves in situations of adversity where we have to stay positive and we have to keep fighting and battling."
Nikole Ferrari on her team's fight to get back in the game:
"It is definitely hard to look up at the scoreboard and see that you are down by 3 goals. But our team couldn't be a better team to be down. We use each other as momentum. We use each other's emotions to build on that and to get back into the game. We are teammates first and we high-five, get each other pumped and ready to go and back off each other's success. So, if someone makes a good pass, we are happy about that and we use that to get the next girl to score and get back into the game. So momentum for us is awesome, it is great. When someone does something great it influences another player to do something even better. I think yes, it is hard to be down, but I think our team does a great job to come back and being resilient and being great battlers in the pool."
Arizona State Quotes
Head Coach Todd Clapper opening statement:
"I'm just really proud of the team. There was a lot of adversity in that game with Katie (Sverchek) going out with an injury and (Ao) Gao getting two fouls early in the game, our two center defenders, so a lot of adversity there. The team really rallied around that. They really tightened up their defense and really just supported each other and I'm just really proud of the game that they played and everybody finished very strong to secure the win."
On his team's ability to keep San Diego State from tying the score:
"When I think back and replay the game in my head, there was so many opportunities that we just didn't find the goal. We missed the goal on some good opportunities or some counters or the ball didn't get to the person quick enough on the counter attack. I look at that and I think we were constantly on the attack. We started to get some shots in the second quarter and started getting them to fall. We kept the pressure on and I think we all felt at some point these shots have to start falling. We had the confidence in that. This team has always been a team that just, when it counts, is coming together and giving their best effort and today was no exception."
On his team's 20th win of the season and his 300th of his career:
"I'm just happy to do it with this team. So, 300 wins just means that you have been around a long time. But I'm just really happy that I got it with this team. It has been special and it has been special since the beginning of the year."
Kayla Casas on her mindset when she had to replace one of the senior leaders who went down to injury:
"We want to end our senior's four years here on a good note, so I felt like all of the underclassmen stepped up and did what they needed to do. We executed well as a team for our seniors, so I think that was something we wanted to do for our seniors."