Water polo places McGrath, Wallace on All-MPSF teams

April 30, 2008

A pair of student-athletes on the Arizona State University water polo team have earned placement on All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) teams, the league announced Tuesday. Junior <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/mtt/mcgrath_addison00.html"… McGrath</a> made program history as she earned a spot on the All-MPSF First Team while senior goalie <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/mtt/wallace_caylinn00.html"… Wallace</a> was selected to the All-MPSF Honorable Mention team.<separator></separator>McGrath, a honorable mention selection last year, made history for the program this year by becoming the first Sun Devil to earn first team honors. The previous highest selection came in 2006 when <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/mtt/webster_rowie00.html">R… Webster</a> was a second-team honoree. The team's and MPSF's leading scorer on the season, McGrath is now just one of two players from ASU to earn honors in two seasons, joining Wallace, who also was selected for the freshman team in 2005 to go along with her selection this year to the honorable mention team. Wallace joins McGrath (2007) and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/mtt/davis_katie00.html">Kat… Davis</a> (2004) as honorable mention selections.<separator></separator>With 81 goals, 42 assists and 123 points, McGrath was one of the top offensive players in the nation this season as her goal and point totals rank the best in single-season history at ASU while her assist total is second. The program's all-time leading scorer with 174 goals and 259 points, McGrath led the MPSF in overall goals and scoring average at 2.45 per contest. McGrath also ranks among the Top 20 in goals scored nationally.<separator></separator>Wallace, the team's starting goalie for four years, put up huge numbers in her career, including a school-record and MPSF-leading 346 saves this year. Averaging a league-best 10.18 saves per game, Wallace accumulated 1,087 saves in her career, averaging just over 275 saves per season while leading the Sun Devils to new heights as a program. The program's record-holder for saves in a game with 22, Wallace recorded saves in 56-percent of the shots she faced in her career while carrying a 9.54 career saves per game average.<separator></separator>The two selections marked the second year in a row the Sun Devils placed a pair of players on the all-league teams after McGrath was an honorable mention selection last year while <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/mtt/stepp_amanda00.html">Am… Stepp</a> earned a place on the all-freshman squad.<separator></separator>Both McGrath and Wallace played very large roles in leading the Sun Devils to several milestones in 2008, including the program's highest national ranking at No. 4, the most wins in a single season at 21 and its biggest upsets as the Sun Devils downed No. 2 USC (8-5), No. 4 California (8-7) and No. 4 San Diego State (10-7) during the season. The wins over USC and Cal were the first in program history in the series for ASU.<separator></separator>Arizona State's All-Time Selections to the All-MPSF Teams 2008 - <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/mtt/mcgrath_addison00.html"… McGrath</a> - First Team 2008 - <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/mtt/wallace_caylinn00.html"… Wallace</a> - Honorable Mention 2007 - <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/mtt/mcgrath_addison00.html"… McGrath</a> - Honorable Mention 2007 - <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/mtt/stepp_amanda00.html">Am… Stepp</a> - Freshman Team 2006 - <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/mtt/webster_rowie00.html">R… Webster</a> - Second Team & Freshman Team 2005 - <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/mtt/wallace_caylinn00.html"… Wallace</a> - Freshman Team 2004 - <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/mtt/davis_katie00.html">Kat… Davis</a> - Honorable Mention