Humboldt
Pacific Lutheran
Simon Fraser
Whitman
Chico State

UC-Santa Cruz
George Washington
Stanford B
Claremont
Lewis & Clark
UC-Berkeley B

After a weekend of varying weather conditions, including high winds and rain, UC-Santa Cruz emerged victorious, earning the last bid to the Stanford Invitational the following weekend.

As expected, UCSC and Humboldt went undefeated in Saturday's pool play, but each was not without challengers. In Pool A, Pacific Lutheran gave Humboldt a run for its money in the game to win the pool, although Humboldt was in control of the game enough to win 13-8. Simon Fraser dropped seed after losing a one-point battle to Chico State. Chico also almost upset Whitman in a close 13-11 game. Pool B had an extra team and a number of tight games. In its first game of the day, UCSC was nearly upset by Lewis & Clark. The capped game ended 10-9 in favor of UCSC, but showed the eventual champions to be vulnerable. UCSC also played a close match with George Washington (12-10). Although GW lost to Claremont as well (9-11), the team definitely showed potential.

On Sunday, the weather conditions worsened and there was quite a bit of wind to contend with during the later rounds. Quarterfinals saw Humboldt handle UC-Berkeley B (15-1), but the other games were much more evenly matched. Claremont bested Stanford B in a low-scoring game that didn't make half-time (7-5). PLU matched up against GW and won by two (11-9). UCSC played Lewis & Clark for the second time of the tournament, but was more in control of the re-match and won 8-5. The semifinals thus pitted Humboldt against Claremont and PLU versus UCSC. The higher ranked team prevailed in both cases, setting Humboldt and UCSC to see each other in finals. The finals were also affected by the wind, but UCSC proved more efficient on offense. Lillian Berla and Tegwyn Lewis-Pine lead their team to a 10-4 victory. Other women on UCSC include Carmen Ausserer and Zoe Hitchner, who are both solid players able to step up when the team needs them.

A team had to drop out at the last minute (UCSF Spin Docs) so the tournament is being run with two pools, one of 5 teams and one with 6. Attendance at the Qualifier this year was hurt slightly by the simultaneous occurence of the UCLA Invitational (in its inaugural year). Nonetheless, the Qualifier still attracted some competitive teams and no one is guaranteed victory and a berth at the Stanford Invite the following weekend.

The main contenders for the title are Humboldt State and UC-Santa Cruz. UC-Santa Cruz finished higher than Humboldt at the recent Trouble in Vegas tournament, but UCSC had to work its way up into the top 16 from Division II pool play while Humboldt started out in Division I and got to play tougher competition for most of the weekend. Humboldt fared quite well against some good teams, beating a few non-west coast squads and coming within one or two points of UC-San Diego, UCLA, and Tufts. Apparently, at Vegas Humboldt's coach, Cate Roscoe, played in a few of the team's games despite not being college-eligible. She will not be allowed to play with her team at the Qualifier, and it remains to be seen how that could affect the team's confidence or competitiveness. While UCSC handled all the Division II teams it saw at Vegas in pool play, it folded to UCSD in the pre-quarters and ended up losing to Oregon State for 13th place. UCSC is a team that has a core group of talented players, but can be hampered by the squad's depth. At Qualifier, its success will be in ensuring that it's top players are well rested enough for elimination play on Sunday.

Pacific Lutheran (PLU) should not be counted out either. Laurel Williams is a confident handler who gained invaluable experience at the 2005 Club Championships with the Portland women's team, Schwa. The team has not played in a tournament so far this season, although in a recent scrimmage against local rival Washington, PLU wasn't able to put too many points on the scoreboard. Nonetheless, PLU usually recruits a few great athletes each year, so the Qualifier will be a good test of how the veteran players have integrated the rookies onto the team.

One of the wildcards of the tournament will be George Washington (GW). Flying all the way out from the east coast, it is unlikely that GW will be able to return to California the following weekend if it does win the tournament. Still, who can complain with spending time away from a snowy winter in the end of February? GW will still get the chance to test itself against west coast offenses and the opportunity to play on grass can only help the team improve for later in the season.

One of the nice things about this tournament is that, with the exception of the very top two teams, most of the other squads could prove to be relatively evenly matched. This fact guarantees a number of close battles where each team emerges stronger.