California Competition Faces Off

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Santa Barbara, CA
Jan 27-28, 2007

Jenny Founds (Stanford) with a defensive block against UC-Santa Barbara in 2006.

Tournament Preview

The hiatus between the last fall tournament and the first winter competition can feel like it lasts forever. For many California teams, the wait is almost over as the Santa Barbara Invitational kicks off the regular ultimate season this weekend.

Many people dismiss early season tournaments' predictive powers for results later in the season; however, the SB Invite often sets the tone for rivalries that will last through May. Specifically, teams in the Bay Area and Southern California sections will face each other multiple times during the season, so it's necessary to gain or hold onto any advantage possible. As both the Northwest and Southwest regions will have three bids each to the championships in 2007, teams are going to start strategizing now on how to get an edge over their regional competition. This tournament first set the stage for the season-long battle between Stanford and UCLA, culminating at the finals of the College Championships in 2006.

Seedings Stanford UCLA UC-Berkeley UC-Davis UC-San Diego UC-Santa Barbara UC-Santa Cruz Cal Poly So. California (USC) Cal Tech Claremont Stanford B UC-Berkeley B UC-San Diego B UCLA B (X) UCLA B (Y)

Stanford has a lot to prove as the defending national champion. Graduation, winter abroad programs, and injuries have hurt the team's depth and experience, but the team's sense of tradition carries a suprising amount of weight. Stanford should be able to hold off any upsets in pool play, although USC's long game could offer up some suprises. Players will have to step up into new roles if Stanford hopes to make it to the finals of this tournament again.

UCLA has to face UC-Santa Cruz in pool play. This game should be very exciting as both team's top players are extremely athletic and talented. Spectators will want to especially key in on UCLA's Anna "Maddog" Nazarov and Pooja Shah battling against UCSC's Lillian Berla and Tegwyn Lewis-Pine. Nonetheless, in the end UCLA's deeper roster will probably be the difference. The fact that UCLA has enough women trying out to field three teams for this tournament means that the rookies on the A team are likely to be the cream of the crop.

Emily Gauthier (UC-San Diego) will be returning to the field after ACL surgery, only now she'll be playing against her former team, UCLA

Pool C is probably the most competitive pool, with three teams that will be vying for the number one spot. UC-Berkeley, UC-Santa Barbara, and Claremont each have a number of experienced players that will have to step up to take the pool. Berkeley is a well-coached team which didn't lose a lot of players from the roster that just barely missed qualifying for the College Championships last year. Meanwhile, UC-Santa Barbara is on a mission to prove itself in the Southwest. The team returns most of its core and has a new coach to help lead the way. Claremont is also trying to make it happen this year in the Southwest. Two of its players have been key personnel for the Seattle club team Viva!, so they will be running the show for Claremont if they are both healthy.

UC-Davis' four seed at the tournament is a result of its quarterfinals finish at the 2006 championships. Unfortunately, a significant portion of the team's top players have graduated--leaving questions about how quickly the less experienced group will step up to fill the gap. However, UC-Davis is another team with a strong history and it still has the experience of multiple championships appearances and talented coaches. UC-San Diego will be ready to take advantage of any signs of weakness that Davis shows. A significant portion of UCSD's roster played with Safari during the summer and fall, so now will be the time to show that extra experience paid off. UCSD has something of a revolving door when it comes to its coaching staff, but despite new faces behind the clipboard, UCSD will still be relying on its proven pressure defense.

The weather for this weekend is predicted to be in the low 60's, with some possibility of showers on Sunday.