Tournament Hype - Women's Division
by Lindsey Hack
Atlantic Coast
The AC boasted the most competitive region during the regular season according to the UPA top 25 with teams like NCSU(2), UGA(4), UVA(5), and UNC(6). Out of that region, the ladies of NCSU emerged victorious with an impressive 13-11 win over UVA – the defending Regional Champions. NCSU has posted a stirring season at 34-3, with loses only to UM and UNC in February at QCTU and to UNC at sectionals. They practically dominated Terminus and Southerns and topped off their regular season with a 12-11 win over Texas in not so unfavorable weather conditions at Easterns. Although they were challenged at Regionals with close wins over UGA (13-12), Emory (15-13), and UVA they are clearly one of the most talented teams to qualify for the college championships from the AC region in recent years. Molly Doyle will confidently lead the team on offense and defense. Although Molly loves to play defense points, she is involved in practically every one of NCSU’s scores – typically throwing the score. The experience she has gained with Backhoe (2004 Semifinalist Club team) has treated her well during the college season. In addition to Molly, Nicole Chauvigne will be handling many of the deep cuts, Jo Vidales and Amanda Hobbs will get many touches on the disc, and Teresa Rouse will be a main defender with pivotal layouts. Seeded at #2, it is hard to imagine that a team who has only played two qualifiers this year (wins over Texas and Purdue) will finish at #2 or higher. But, if there is a team out there that can do it, it is NCSU.
Central Region
The Central Region was allocated two bids this year. Iowa was a heavy favorite to win the region all year after winning tournaments like CCC, Fool’s, Mardi Gras and a semis appearance against Stanford at Centex. Carleton, after producing a 2-9 record up until sectionals, was a long shot to win the region in many eyes. But, low and behold, the series comes around and Carleton turns into that national powerhouse we all know from years past. They post a 12-0 record to end the season plus an inspiring win over Iowa in the finals at regionals. Beware though; Iowa should not be counted out of the running for the championship despite their showing at regionals. Iowa has produced notable wins against Texas, UGA, Colorado, Dartmouth, Oregon and Brown this year. It is expected that they will regroup in time for championship weekend and use their regional loss add some fire to their cause. Both teams are very athletic and have some standout players. Carleton’s Maia Pinsky and Karla Marlatt take care of the disc for Syzergy. Their experience in the finals of last year’s championship game will be priceless in Corvallis this year. Iowa’s offense is aggressive with lots of movement. Tammy Kampfe and Mackenzie Henryson will be putting the disc long and often. Also, Iowa does not panic when they are down by a few and has pulled off some big wins down the homestretch – at MG they came from behind to beat Texas and at Centex they came from behind to beat California.
Great Lakes
Purdue has been the main story of this region. The program improved itself dramatically by adding structure and stability through a new coach – Adam Tarr. This Ex-Brown player has shaped this team into the first GL contender since Northwestern (2001) to have a shot at making quarters. Largely unchallenged at regionals, Purdue is a great offensive team that runs a beautiful, nonstagnant horizontal stack offense. Nortwestern finished a distant second behind Purdue. Appearances at MG and Southerns (although notable wins are absent) might provide them with just enough experience to crank out a win or two over Memorial Day Weekend. On Purdue, watch out for Katie Mckain – at 5’1” she breaks the mark with the step around backhand effortlessly. Michelle Groscott is the lefty who does not necessarily kill you with her movement, but rather with her little five foot break mark throws that create give and gos and open hucks. Kali Frost is usually the receiver of those hucks. Northwestern’s Christen Kirby will be one of the best receivers in Corvallis as well.
Metro East
With the banning of Penn State from the series by its own administration, the Metro East definitely lost strength. Cornell emerged as the number one team out of the region with Rutger’s as its runner up. This region was largely under reported on as far as the score reporter goes with brackets and pool play. From what can be gathered, Cornell beat Rutgers pretty convincingly in the finals 15-7. Rutgers then went on to beat Rochester in the game to go. Cornell traveled this year to Stanford Invite, Southerns, and Ultimax. Their trip out to SI may prove most valuable as they were exposed to solid competition and made quarters with a 15-8 win over UM. Cornell went on to lose a close one to the 2004 UPA college champions, UC-Davis (11-12) in quarters. But, it appears that Cornell started off strong and then lost momentum - or maybe other teams gained more ground. At Southerns, they lost to Emory (8-13) and UNC (7-10). At Ultimax they lost to Brown (10-15) and Dartmouth (12-13). At Yale Cup they avenged their previous loss to Dartmouth but lost to Brown again and MIT. Rutgers got the opportunity to play solid competition at QCTU but produced loses to NCSU, UVA, and UGA. They also lost to Purdue at High Tide and MIT and Dartmouth at Yale Cup.
New England
The New England region rightfully earned its strength and size bid according to the current UPA bid allocation guidelines. The NE is home to over 25 women’s teams and last year two of the three qualifiers made it to quarters (Brown and MIT) at the 2004 college championships. This year, Dartmouth won the region followed by Brown and MIT. All three of these teams earned the opportunity to compete at last year’s championship and this year’s Centex. The maturity of these programs will give them a leg up on the competition in Corvallis. Despite the prestigious history of these programs, the NE went 6-10 collectively at Centex, with Brown finishing the highest with an appearance in quarterfinals. Dartmouth was in arguably the toughest pool at Centex and experienced tough Saturday loses to Iowa, Colorado, and Oregon – which matched them up against Texas for pre-quarters. They lost to Texas but went on to beat Carleton (14-12) and Wisconsin (11-8) for 13th. Brown also pulled out a great win over Washington at universe point in pre-quarters. Rebecca Simon and Cate Brown connected a few times during this game and will be pivotal in Corvallis. Regionals is not the first time that Brown has lost to Dartmouth, and it appears that maybe Dartmouth has Brown’s number with a victory over them at Ultimax as well. Brown did produce a win over MIT (14-5) at regionals for second. MIT also traveled to Centex this spring and beat Carleton, but lost to Texas, California, and Colorado. MIT is the type of team that loves Sunday morning and although they experienced a Saturday loss at regionals (vs. Amherst) they regrouped quickly enough to beat Amherst on Sunday to earn a spot in Corvallis. Nancy Sun is MIT’s most experienced and versatile player. With expert throws and talented teammates like Angela Tong, Sun and MIT will put together a strong showing over Memorial Day Weekend.
Northwest
The Northwest could easily be referred to as the region that all other regions strive to be. This year the NW has produced the powerhouse and favorite to win it all – Stanford. Stanford’s only loss this year came at the first tournament of the season back in January against UC-Santa Cruz (Santa Barbara Invite). Although they are the clear favorite, there is no shortage of talent over on the west coast. On the road to a relatively easy final (13-6 vs. California), Stanford squeaked out wins against Oregon in quarters (11-8) and Washington in semis (10-9). California may have benefited from a relatively easier road to the finals by beating Oregon in pool play. The road to the game-to-go was long for Oregon and it just so happened that Washington gutted it out with fewer turnovers to earn the lost spot to the college championships. Stanford will be seeded first and will be the favorite to win it all. Led by the talented and speedy Enessa Janes, Stanford has the experience of big games that will prove very helpful in Corvallis. In addition to Enessa Janes, Lauren Casey will be taking on the job of hucking and defensively, players like Jenny Burney will be taking it up a notch. In addition to Stanford, it will be interesting to see how California fairs at the championships. For a team that finished fourth at sectionals, only a spot ahead of their B team, one has to wonder about their ability to get the job done on the national level. Kath Ratcliff will run the offense for Berkley and Rebecca Rundle will lead the defensive charge. Lastly, it is easy to think that Washington may bust out some “Carleton Magic” at the championships. This year they have added the 2004 Callahan winner and ex-carleton player – Miranda Roth - by the grace of UW’s graduate school program. Miranda is just icing on the cake, Carla Fowler is also an accomplished women’s players that shows up for big games. Carla and Miranda were a crucial part of Riot’s UPA Club Championship finish and they will use that experience to guide this team through the college championships.
South
One team comes to mind when people on various coasts think of the South region – Texas. Cara Crouch and Co. will be more than ready to showcase their skills in Corvallis. Texas rolled through regionals where the most any team scored on them was 4 points in the finals by Texas A&M. Texas had an impressive showing at Centex where they provided Stanford with their hardest challenge to date. The ladies of Texas ended up losing in the finals at Centex, but only by the smallest of margins (12-15). Despite Texas’ eye opening display at Centex, the rest of their season has been marked by a few loses against admirable opponents after being ahead for the majority of the game. At MG they lost to Wisconsin 9-10 and Iowa 11-12 after being up all game. At Easterns, Texas lost to both NCSU and UNC in the cap. Both opposing teams had to score up wind in 35 mph gusts to win. If Texas has learned to finish out a close game, they will definitely have a shot at the semifinals or even the finals. Cara Crouch is everything that all her fans on RSD claim her to be. A wonderful cast backs her though, that includes Tessa Nichols (who just may be one of the best handlers in the country as far as consistency is concerned), Amanda Berens, and the defense of Lisa Short.
Southwest
Like the Atlantic Coast region, the SW was an extremely competitive region this year with teams like Colorado(9), UCSD(17), UCLA (19) and UCSB(29) that was only allocated one bid. Colorado came out on top and became the SW qualifier for the UPA college championships but not without parity. At regionals, they lost to UC-SD(9-11) on Saturday only to beat them 14-8 in the finals. Colorado had a lackluster showing at President’s Day but considering the conditions and consequences of that tournament the results may not be worth all that much. On the other hand, they had a strong showing at Centex with a close loss to Iowa in pool play after being ahead for most of the game (up 12-8 at one point only to lose 12-13). Colorado also gave Stanford a decent run in the semifinals only to lose 12-15 even though they took half 8-7. It appears that Colorado can hang with the best, be up all game, and then has a tendency to drop the ball in the last few points. If they can tie up those lose ends, look for them to take it all home. Alex Snyder will be controlling the disc most of the time for Kali with meticulous break throws and Anne Pogoriler will be one of the main cutters for Colorado.
