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| This is the 16th annual Easterns hosted by the UNC-Wilmington teams in North Carolina. This tournament has been known for attracting top teams from across the country, although in the past two years it has been overtaken by Centex as THE bi-coastal tournament of the spring. Nonetheless, Easterns still has a number of competitive teams in attendance and is always a well-run tournament where the 12 women's teams have up to nine games during the weekend. | |||||
| Ranked Teams:
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Final Finish:
1/2. UNC-Chapel Hill More results coming soon... |
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| Tournament Write-Up: (Information provided by Lindsey Hack) On Saturday, the tournament's first round was pushed back 2 hours due to severe thunderstorms. Despite the late start, all the scheduled games were played, thanks to the lit fields that allowed games to go late into the day. The sun came out once play started, but the wind picked up throughout the day and was a major factor for the last two rounds of Saturday and all of Sunday. There were gusts up to 30 or 40 mph at times, keeping some games to low scores where the winner of the flip gained a huge advantage. Pool A was won by UNC-Chapel Hill, after a tough game against the number one seed, Texas. Texas won the advantage off of the flip and the game stayed on serve until 5-4, Texas. UNC utilized quick transition to score on fast-breaks while going downwind. Texas often took multiple possessions to score downwind, affording UNC extra chances to try and score upwind. The soft cap meant this was a game to 6 and UNC had to score an upwind point to stay in the game. After a UNC turnover near the endzone, the team set its zone and Kelsey Clark came up with a lay-out D that allowed Sara Stanley to score the first upwind point of the game. Scoring the next downwind point won the game for UNC, 6-5. Pool B saw another upset by the 2nd seed. NC State squeaked out a victory over Georgia in a battle game that ended with a score of 4-3. With such intense wind, even the downwind points were difficult to score and there were a number of marathon points played that lasted up to 25 minutes. NCSU's defense was more effective in preventing the other team from getting close to the upwind goal, but neither team scored on an upwind point and NCSU was lucky to win the flip. In the semifinals NCState matched-up against Texas. Texas won the flip and both teams had scored upwind twice by the time the game was tied at 11's, in a game that was capped at 12. but NC State scored three upwinder goals to Texas' two. NCSU then had to work it upwind if it was going to win the game. Molly Doyle with Jo Vidales were NCSU's main handlers, and most of the team's upfield passes came from Doyle. Despite multiple NCSU turnovers, Texas failed to convert on the downwind point. Eventually, NCSU worked the disc to about 25 yards out of the upwind endzone where Doyle sent a flick to the back corner of the endzone. A NCSU receiver made an impressive lay out grab, toeing in the score, to win the game 12-11. The other semifinal saw Georgia competing against UNC-Chapel Hill. UNC won the flip and both teams only scored upwind once. With the cap looming, Georgia failed to score downwind quickly and UNC was able to "run out the clock," so to speak, while working the disc going upwind. Georgia used a trapping four person cup to take advantage of the crosswind, but UNC's Sara Stanley and Lindsey Hack utilized give-and-gos to advance. UNC consistently worked the disc efficiently using all of their players and won the game 9-8. In addition to the Georgia's high profile players, Katherine Wooten and Lauren Rapp, "Shug" is another player that is fast and an impact player for the team. NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill were thus slated to meet in the finals. These two teams have played each other twice this season and are set to meet again next weekend at Sectionals and at Regionals following that. As a result, the teams decided not to play each other in the finals in such adverse weather conditions. The teams split the champion discs and no winner of Easterns was crowned.
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| Pre-Tournament Hype:
The final seedings and pools have yet to be posted, but there is an immediate cut-off between the top four teams and the rest of the tournament. With 2 pools of 6, Texas, NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Georgia should be the top two finishes out of each pool. Of these teams, Texas is the favorite to win it all after the team's performance at Centex where it lost to Stanford in the finals 15-12. While Texas has Callahan shortlist player Cara Crouch, it is not a one-woman team and has a solid core of athletic handlers and receivers. Teams should especially watch out for Tessa Nichols, who makes great plays on offense and defense. NC State won the recent Southerns tournament over UNC-Chapel Hill; a great rivalry is shaping up between the two North Carolina schools. NCSU is lead by Molly Doyle, another Callahan contender, who is known as one of the top defenders in the game. On offense, the team relies on the connections between Doyle and Nicole Chauvigne and often looks long for huck scores. So far this season, UNC-Chapel Hill beat NC State and Georgia on its way to the finals of Queen City Tune-Up, had a lackluster perfomance at Terminus playing without a full roster, and was a step above most of the competition at Southerns. Expect Lindsey Hack to take the tough defensive assignments for this team. On offense, Hack and Sara Stanly utilize give-and-go looks effectively and the rest of the team cuts for these two players' breakmark and long throws. Georgia came in 5th at Centex after losing to Texas in the quarters. Katherine Wooten and Lauren Rapp are the core of this team and their throws combined with height make it hard to stop their forehands. The team has a number of fast women who are hard to stop as both the away and under cuts are viable options. Emory should be the next in line behind these four top teams, and Laura Gold will be looking to lead an upset with her precision throws. Note that this is the last major tournament in the Atlantic Coast region before the Series starts. With only two bids to the UPA College Championships this year, NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Georgia are going to be fighting to prove themselves to each other. Virginia is also a contender from this region, but will not be at Easterns this year.
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