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LOCATION
April 27-28, 2008
BY: Michelle Ng
With the sole bid to Nationals on the line and more contenders for the bid than in any other year in recent memory, teams made the trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana this past weekend. With defending Regional champion Truman State seeded sixth and multiple-time qualifier Texas seeded third, the weekend promised to be an interesting one.
Pool Play
Texas was the only top seed in its pool to hold seed at the end of Saturday, taking care of business and beating Wash U 14-8, Arkansas, 15-3, and Vanderbilt 15-3. Wash U, led by the excellent throws and offensive firepower of captains Traci Horner, Kate Stambaugh, and Abby Stephens, came out strong, trading points with Texas early in the game. Freshman Sam Huo pulled down huck after huck from Horner. Stambaugh broke marks consistently with her huge inside-out lefty backhand and Stephens was an extremely versatile threat, both cutting hard in the field and using her smart throws to gain yards for WUWU.
Arkansas played hard with only 9 players and was led by the play of captain Sara Taylor, whose throws held the Arkansas offense together. Arkansas played a wall defense that forced Texas to work the disc down the field with smart passes, but Texas used its deep roster to apply pressure to SoCo on defense and to keep the disc moving on offense.
Vanderbilt was led by the play of Katie Patterson, Sarah “Eddie” Edmonds, Sara “Gibbs” Gibson, and Jamie McCormick. Patterson and McCormick held down the handling duties, showing off their impressive hucks and utilizing up-the-line cuts effectively. Edmonds and Gibson were outstanding cutters, and Edmonds owned the skies with her combination of height, speed, and field-sense. Vanderbilt also threw an effective four-person cup zone, but the Texas handlers worked the disc patiently, using lots of give-and-gos and taking the deep looks when they were open.
In Pool B, Auburn was the story of the day, going 3-0 led by the play of captains Annie Newton and Blair Druhan. Newton is cool, confident, and collected on offense, putting up near-perfect throws to athletic receivers. Druhan is also rock solid on offense and Auburn upset seed, catapulting themselves to the top of the pool. Texas A&M dropped down a spot, Rice held seed, and Kansas fell from the second seed in the pool to the fourth. Rice was led by solid handling from Johannah Sanchez-Adams and Lynn Quon and great cutting from Austine Lin and Chris Lin. Kansas is led by the throws of captain Tasha Parman, but unfortunately, Betty could not duplicate its outstanding performance at Sectionals.
Perhaps the most anticipated game of pool play was the St. Louis v. Truman State game in Pool A. St. Louis pulled out the universe point win in the Sectionals finals, and Truman State was ready to avenge that loss. Kara O’Malley, Tricia Wong, and Michelle Place provided strong offense for SLULU and O’Malley made some huge bids on D. SLULU was extremely aggressive on defense, getting numerous run-through Ds. Truman State spread the disc around a great deal, led by the handling of captains Amanda “Duh” Carron and Mona Baucom. Noelle Peterson was a terror on offense, pulling down everything in the air and Morgan Shanan and Emily Tobias were rock-steady with huge continue cuts. Laura Halfmann also complemented TSUnami’s offensive sets well. The teams traded points to 9s, when the soft cap went on. The game was tied again at 10s before TSUnami scored the game winner on a push pass.
The rest of the pool went to seed. Props to Texas B for making the trip to Regionals. Captains Laura Markham and Nitsanne Crosbie led the charge, with Julie Paik and Rebecca Butler adding additional athleticism on both sides of the disc.
Bracket Play
Quarterfinals matchups were Truman State v. Wash U, Texas A&M v. Vanderbilt, Texas v. St. Louis, and Auburn v. Oklahoma. The Texas A&M game and Oklahoma v. Auburn game were both decided by one point. Truman State held Wash U off with a three-point win, pulling ahead towards the end of the game by capitalizing on Wash U turnovers and moving the disc on the break-side of the field. Texas avenged their loss at Texas Throwdown with a ten-point win over St. Louis, coming out firing and never looking back.
Texas A&M’s win at Sectionals left many people doubting Texas and wondering who this team from College Station was. Led by the outstanding handling of captains Ashley Greiwe and Alexa Tang, this team is athletic and aggressive. Rookie Lilly White is a fantastic defender and cutter, sophomore Katherine Choeffel is a huge asset on offense, and other players including Catalina Alfonso, Amanda Greiwe, and Sarah Neusch round out the lineup.
Oklahoma played most of the weekend savage, after losing their sole sub to an ankle sprain. Jessica Hoppe led the team to semis with very effective cutting from athletic cutters running a horizontal stack.
Semifinals pitted Truman State v. Vanderbilt and Texas v. Oklahoma. Truman State and Vandy traded early in the game after a late start, while Texas used its deep rotation to roll to a 15-6 win. Truman State and Vanderbilt were tied at 10s before Truman State broke twice to go up. Both teams were running hard and utilizing their deep options, but in the end, Truman State pulled out the win to set up a rematch of last year’s Regional final.
Texas drew first blood, but TSUnami answered back to tie the game at 1s. Texas then scored 3 straight, generating turns and using an extremely efficient offense. TSUnami clawed its way back into the game to make it 3-5 before allowing Texas to go on a 6 point run to make it 11-3. At 14-4, TSUnami went on one last run, scoring 3 in a row before Texas closed it out on a huck from Stephanie Redfern to Lauren “Ralphie” McKinney. Senior Gina Phillips threw a number of picture perfect hucks. Rachel “Chump” Massey and Redfern floored the sidelines with their incredible speed on deep cuts while a number of other cutters including McKinney, Mindy Rosenberg, and Katie “BS” Blyth provided rock-solid continue cuts for the Texas offense. As always, captain Rebecca Shelton was a rock on both side of the disc and Natalie “Balls” Espino and Marjo Manalang provided solid offense and applied enormous pressure on defense. Texas had contributions from every single member of the roster, utilizing its deep rotation and its ability to use every player on the field to its advantage.
TSUnami’s Carron is simply one of the best players and leaders in the South Region. She plays with more heart than almost anyone else I have seen in my five years of college ultimate and her constant encouragement and confident play holds TSUnami together. Her tremendous leadership and spirited play have contributed greatly to the development of the South and to the increased respect and camaraderie built between TSUnami and Melee. Baucom is an excellent complement to Carron, and her return, along with Shanan and Tobias will provide an excellent core for Truman State next year. Shanan is one of the most underrated players in the Region— she is one of the most consistent cutters and defenders in the South and will likely play a bigger role around the disc next year. Tobias and Baucom have excellent throws and will continue to lead the TSUnami offense.
As mentioned previously and as noted in the preview on the IC Ultimate blog, the South has reached a new level in its development. Captains and leaders from teams around the Region have been coming together to engage in dialogue about the development of our Region and to discuss how to continue to build the quality and quantity of ultimate played in the South. Elite Eights and Texas Throwdown were representative of Texas Ultimate’s commitment to helping lead this effort, but strong support from many of the other teams in the South made these efforts possible. The South is sure to continue to gain respect in the coming years, as the outlook for the Region is increasingly positive.
Thank you to our Regional Coordinator Sheena Connell for all of her work this past weekend and congratulations to Texas on qualifying for Nationals.
