Midwest Warmup. SOL took a rather small roster of mostly newbs. It probably turned out to be my favorite tournament of the year.After day one, I tried to re-iterate the importance of taking care of yourself at tournaments. My first semester that I played ultimate at UWEC, Spring 2007, we had a whopping eleven girls. The most we could ever have was eleven. We qualified for Central Regionals for the first time ever, and had nine healthy players. That weekend was a true test of our mental toughness: our abilities to stay focused and our desire to play hard when we are tired. We pushed ourselves to the limits, working on fundamentals in the horizontal sleet rain, concentrating on field position and playing possession ultimate.
That reminded me much of this tournament. Our vets and our newbs were tested alike, pushing ourselves to our limits when our numbers started dwindling late in the day with injuries. We sort of adopted the motto "win each battle" this weekend, as we started to concentrate on every individual point, never looking ahead to the next.
SATURDAY POOL PLAY
Game 1 vs. Missouri State Bearly Legal
After a first round bye, we faced Bearly Legal, a team after our own heart sporting the spray paint :) . A team that was led by its handlers who had strong throws and good breaks. SOL worked hard to put a great deal of pressure on the handlers to try to slow down the Missou offense. SOL worked hard to capitalize on every turn, working the disc up-wind with ease. Final score: SOL 13, Bearly Legal 3.
Game 2 vs. Loyola-Chicago Sirens
The Sirens had some solid players with good throws. They were patient against the SOL zone defense, working it laterally well. SOL was able to force some turns with intense cup-D led by Anna Hettler's fierce mark, Whitney Esson/Beth Wright/Martha Harris' intense D-generating mid-mid, and Emy Marier's multiple D's from the wing spot. SOL had very few turns, utilizing nearly every opportunity to score. Final score: SOL 13, Sirens 2.
Game 3 vs. Northwestern Gung-ho
In the third match up between the two teams of the season, SOL knew they had to come out all guns firing. SOL and Gung-ho traded possessions, but it was SOL's tough defensive tenacity with multiple hand-blocks per point by Robyn Fennig and Anna Hettler that helped SOL to control the tempo early, going up on an early lead. Gung-ho worked the disc patiently, and was able to go on a mini-run themselves. The game was really close. So close, in fact, that Brit Gartner could not bear to not play any longer, set down her white board of stats and cleated up, still sporting an injury from the championship game of No Wisconsequences. SOL switched up the defense to keep the Northwestern handlers on their toes, and was able to come out on top in this nail-biter. SOL: 9, Gung-ho, 7.
Game 4 vs. Vanderbilt Voodoo
SOL was feeling mighty tired after a hard-fought game vs. Northwestern. Coach "Daddy Pat" Niles came to the ladies of SOL with the wise words of treating every point like it was its own battle. Winning every battle will help us come out on top. That is what we pushed to do. The first half was sloppy. After half, SOL came out with more patience, realizing that with fewer girls, we had to push oursleves to finish on every single posession, making smarter plays with 100% throws, not taking unnecessary risks in order to preserve our legs for Sunday. SOL: 13, Voodoo 1.
SOL goes to Hooters and the Arch!
We went to Hooters for dinner, eating a gratuitous amount of wings. We had so many left-over wings that Robyn still has wings in her refrigerator from the weekend.
SOL then ventured to downtown St. Louis by the flooded Mississippi river, which actually resembled the game Grand Theft Auto with all the helicopters and police vehicles. Crazy.
After taking cheesey pictures and playing by the Gateway Arch (630 feet tall made of stainless steel....it sways 1 inch in 20 mph winds, and only 18 inches in 150 mph winds! and its shape was determined by the hyperbolic cosine function, cosh(x), fyi.) we headed to the DOUBLE TREE WEST-PORT ST. LOUIS INN..... However, Beth's car began to break down on the cobblestone streets of the river district. We pull over, and figure out that her oil pump is pretty shot. We pull off on some semi-shady gas station (single cans from a 24 pack of Busch Light available on ICE as you check out!!). As were these bags of potato chips...aka RAP SNACKS!
Some guy comes up to us, and says "Can you call this number? I can't find my phone." Heather gives man her phone. To prove he wasn't going to run with her phone, he gives her $300 in cash (small bills, $20 and $10s). In other words, Heather gets tricked into giving some guy her number at a gas station. All this was happening as Robyn was "causing a scene" while pumping gas in her spandex, apparently some guy with his four year old daughter completely checked out her butt while Pat, Anna, and Martha laughed from a distance, while Robyn was completely oblivious.Sorry Iowa State, we ditched out on going out with you guys. We had to pull a super sketch move and change Beth's oil in the hotel parking lot...and some of us were too lame and slept. Raincheck in January?
SUNDAY BRACKET PLAY
SOL sadly did not earn a first round bye, finishing fifth in point differential due to the close game vs. extremely under-seeded Northwestern.
Pre-Quarters vs. North Park Allihopa
We came out firing against a good North Park team. North Park, graduated Kelly Marshall, sick all-region player for the Great Lakes Region, but had some solid cutters and handlers this year as well. SOL successfully switched it up between man and zone, playing a field-position oriented game. We were able to work the disc up-wind and down-wind, controlling the tempo of the game for the most part. Keeping pressure on the handlers helped to fluster the Allihopa O. Soft cap went on, and SOL won. I was really impressed with the awesome spirit demonstrated multiple times during the game. It was a fun, intense game. I felt like both teams really had a great time playing each other. I hope to see Allihopa again in the spring! Final score, SOL 12, Allihopa 4.
Quarters vs. Michigan Flywheel
Michigan, perennial nationals qualifier from the Great Lakes Region, brought a notably more veteran squad to Warmup than they did at No Wisconsequences. SOL came out fired up and scored a few quick points. Michigan answered that with points of their own. The game was highlighted by momentum changes that matched a roller coaster. Both teams playing very up and very down. Both teams showing signs of greatness, and signs of weakness. What impressed me the most, was that when each team was playing weak, the other was able to capitalize and score. It was a hard fought game with long points. When soft cap went on, the score was 6-6, Flywheel receiving down-wind. SOL came out and scored two break points in a row, showing the mental toughness that was preached all weekend long. Final score: SOL 8, Flywheel 6. Again, I really noticed some good spirit of the game displayed throughout the entire game by both teams. Calls were discussed in a calm, respectful manner, both teams made good calls, and played intensely, but had smiles on their faces the whole time. I really enjoy games like this one. SOL grew a lot, learning from one of the best teams around.
Semis vs. Iowa State Women Scorned
After playing ISU twice this season, we knew it would be another really close game, especially with our numbers dwindling dangerously low. I did feel good, however, because Christine Rosen did not attempt to table top me before the game like she always does; she did want to fight though, but not against me. The game started out with a quick SOL lead. Lindsey Gaptsur threatened her team by yelling, "the next person who punts it deep to Robyn...I'm kicking your ass" truly captures the way the game started out. Out of fear of Gap's wrath, they decided to change their tactics and strategy, much to my disappointment, because I was feeling really good about myself. ISU was able to exercise patience and go on a run. Making the game close. It was a hard-fought game by both teams, but the dwindling numbers for SOL proved to be too hard to overcome after a long weekend in the heat. ISU kicked it into high gear and went on a run again. We tried at the end, but fell short. Final score SOL 8, Women Scorned 9.
SOL stayed around heckling Women Scorned and the Bella Donnas in a good championship game. The score really didn't indicate how good of a game it was, at least in my opinion from what I saw. Sarah Hoistad was breaking marks and tallying some assists early, as ISU went up 4-1 or something to that effect on Bella (I was rather famished waiting for my Chipotle burritos), but Bella made some good adjustments, utlizing strong handlers like 2009 Callahan winner Georgia Bosscher (who just won the UPA Club Championships with Fury last weekend). ISU had early injuries of Jasmine Draper (who later returned, thanks to the banana I ran and got for her) and Christine Rosen (who didn't go back in due to excessive cramping to every muscle in her leg...that may have went away if she would have eaten the banana I got her...even though she claims to have eaten 4 bananas. Rookie mistake). We got our free burritos and peaced out for the long car ride back to EC. Wish we would have saw the rest of the game.
Mad props to CLX who took second in the co-ed division at UPA Club Nationals...that means more love to the ISU girls (cough cough Gibbs, Jaz, and Christine) too, I suppose.
All in all, I could not be more thrilled with the way we played this weekend. It showed that we do have the mental toughness to succeed, but it still needs to be improved. We were up against two good teams, but let them back in. We need to work to keep those leads and not let up.We also need to shut down teams that score 1 or 2 points against us better. We have the ability to do so, but let up the pedal a bit. We have to capitalize on every opportunity and score every time we have the disc. That will make the difference in spring as we go on a quest for our first ever nationals bid. That is something we can work on as we move indoors.
Great things from this weekend, include:
-Anna Hettler's 16 handblocks (she had one point where she had 4 alone...)
-Whitney Esson's huge forehand huck in the game vs. Michigan
-Robyn not getting table-topped by Christine
-MARFIE HARRIS' RETURN TO SOLTIMATE...after a long break with mononucleosis
-Melissa "Brownie" Brown's smart cuts
-Emy Marier's funtensity, especially on zone D
**SOL, check your e-mails for our indoor practice schedule.
One battle at a time SOL.
-Robyn, Brit, and Marfie
