2013 Southeast College Regionals Recap (Women's)
Matt Childs
Posted: May 10, 2013 02:41 PM
Event recap by Florida State coach Matt Childs, as a part of our 2013 Regionals coverage.
The 2013 Southeast Women's Regional Championships finally got started in Tupelo, Miss., after lightning caused a week’s postponement. The delay meant that Florida State was missing four seniors on Saturday to graduation, and it appeared Florida, Georgia Tech and Central Florida were missing a few key players for day one as well. The delay also caused three teams to drop and required the tournament format to change to a drawn-out six game round robin among the remaining seven teams with abbreviated bracket play between the top four finishers.
At least instead of lightning, the weather offered a relatively chilly 60 degrees with low winds and sunny skies.
SATURDAY
Round One
- Florida State v. Florida 9-8
- Central Florida v. Vanderbilt 13-5
- Emory v. Georgia Tech 13-4
Central Florida took care of business against Vanderbilt 13-5, and Emory handled a Georgia Tech squad 13-4 that was without its best player, Leah Tsinajinnie, on Saturday. The game of the round was between Florida State and Florida. Florida would earn a break on the first point but FSU bounced back using an effective cup zone and box-and-one defense to jump out to a 5-2 lead. Florida fought back and scored five in a row to take half 7-5. After half, FSU capitalized on a few UF miscues and several great defensive blocks by Kristin Lloyd, tying the game at 7-7. FSU would break again on universe point to win 9-8 in a nail-biter.
Round Two
- Georgia v. Florida 13-7
- Central Florida v. Georgia Tech 13-0
- Florida State v. Vanderbilt 13-6
No big surprises this round. Georgia and Florida had a relatively close game, but Georgia’s depth of talent and experience proved too much for Florida. UCF cruised over GT using their trademark zone defense. FSU took care of Vanderbilt but faced some adversity. Although Vanderbilt had a small roster of just eight players, they were a very good team. Vandy’s #24 was very impressive. She had huge hucks and earned numerous blocks throughout the tournament for VUDU. FSU’s Tiffany Clarkson had an eye popping nine assists, three Ds and one score in the victory.
Round Three
- Georgia v. Central Florida 9-7
- Emory v. Vanderbilt 13-5
- Florida State v. Georgia Tech 13-0
In Round Three, the one and two seeds, UGA and UCF respectively, would face each other for the first time since January. It was a fiery clash between two very different styles of play. UGA, led by Coach Amble Johnson, relies on individual talent and athleticism to win games with tough man defense and a grinding horizontal offense. Lane Siedor and Margie Quinn are excellent handlers who use a full-range of throws to attack the entire field. Emily Lloyd and Julia Fuster are both great cutters and defenders for Georgia. But Dawgma’s strength comes from its depth and goes beyond just a few star players. Meanwhile, Central Florida, led by Coach Joe Tilley, uses strategies to utilize its star players, Sunny Harris, Mariel Hammond and Sam Young. UCF has a suffocating zone defense that can baffle many teams, and as soon as they generate a turn, they are often utilizing the fast break for a score before the opposing team can react.
Back to the game – UCF and Georgia traded points and a few breaks, but the score remained very close throughout the game. Georgia has had years to learn UCF's zone and knows how to work around the field, it but it was still tough for them. Georgia would methodically work the disc down field, sometimes taking between five and ten minutes, but they would eventually punch it in. But if Georgia ever made a mistake, UCF's Sunny Harris would instantly be at the disc and hucking it downfield. After taking the game all the way through soft-cap, Georgia would break to win 9-7.
Round Four
- Georgia v. Emory 13-11
- Florida v. Georgia Tech 13-4
Georgia thought they might be able to catch their breath after the battle with UCF, but Emory brought its A-game. Emory, led by Abbey Hewitt and Meg Harris, have an athletic squad that has continued to improve all year. It’s clear that first-year coach Keith Raynor has successfully rebuilt Emory Luna. Luna was clearly fresher than Georgia and was pumped up to face their rivals. They earned numerous run-through Ds and layout scores. Georgia just seemed to be having an off game, dropping discs and inexplicably throwing bad passes. Both teams used basic man offense and defense, but that strategy seemed to play to Emory strengths. Despite the scare, Georgia would win out 13-11. Even good teams have bad games, but great teams, like Georgia, find ways to win even when they aren’t playing well.
Round Five
- Georgia v. Vanderbilt 13-7
- Central Florida v. Florida State 12-9
- Florida v. Emory 13-8
In the final round of Saturday’s pool play, UCF and FSU faced off. The two teams are very familiar with each other, having already met four times over the course of the season. UCF beat FSU twice at Conferences by stifling FSU's offense with their tricky zone and fast-break offense. However, FSU had practiced extensively after Conferences to prepare for this rematch. The pressure was on as the game winner would likely earn a spot in the finals. After a slow start and going down 0-2, FSU rebounded, proving their practice had paid off. The Lady Seminoles handlers easily worked the disc over and around UCF's front wall and made clean continue passes downfield. The teams exchanged breaks several times, but FSU would take a 7-6 lead into half. The teams proceeded to trade points to 9-9, but UCF's change of strategy to man defense earned them several breaks and a 12-9 victory. Had FSU not been missing three of its star seniors, perhaps the team could have pulled this one out. This loss certainly would make a difference for FSU later in the weekend.
SUNDAY
Rounds Six and Seven
- Georgia Tech v. Vanderbilt 13-9
- Georgia v. Florida State 12-6
- Central Florida v. Emory 13-4
- Florida v. Vanderbilt 7-8
The weather took a turn for the worse on Sunday. Temperatures hovered in the mid-50s, and a slow, steady drizzle and light but steady wind carried over from Saturday night into Sunday and continued late in the afternoon. Although the fields were nice, they were soaked and quickly became mud pits that slowed down cuts and made life generally miserable. There were also some disconcertingly large earthworms all over the fields. The upside was that the entire field was like one giant slip and slide, encouraging players to make dramatic and sometimes ridiculous layouts.
In Round Six, only one game was played, between Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. Both teams had small rosters but a surprising amount of skill. With larger rosters, these teams could definitely develop into formidable opponents. The wind and rain were stronger early in the morning which led to both teams adopting a huck and pray approach. While Vanderbilt had some big plays, Georgia Tech would prevail with help from the return of Leah Tsinajinnie whose big hucks ultimately made the difference.
In Round Seven, Vanderbilt would bounce back and provide the surprise victory of the tournament, upsetting Florida 8-7. Unfortunately, I did not get to see this game was told later that Vandy jumped out to early lead (likely utilizing their quality hucking), and Florida simply ran out of time to catch up.
Also in Round Seven, Georgia defeated Florida State 13-6. This game was closer than the final score would indicate. Due to the three-point loss to UCF the day before, FSU needed to beat UGA by three to earn at least second place and a spot in the finals. In the first half, Georgia went up a break, but the teams played closely until UGA took half 7-5. FSU, recognizing that its chances of winning by three were very small, and knowing they had many more big games to play that day, decided to rest its starters. FSU would make it 7-6, but UGA closed out the game, scoring six in a row to win it.
Round Eight
- Georgia v. Georgia Tech 9-6
- Central Florida v. Florida 9-6
- Florida State v. Emory 13-3
Vanderbilt’s upset of Florida created an interesting situation: if FSU lost to Emory, that would eliminate Florida and create a rematch between FSU and Emory in the backdoor semifinals, assuming Florida lost to UCF that round. However, if FSU lost and Florida beat UCF, FSU could be eliminated based on point differential in a three-way tie. While Emory was certainly a good team, FSU's junk zone was effective and Emory was plagued by turns in the wet conditions. FSU won easily 13-3. Meanwhile, Florida and UCF traded points throughout the game until UCF broke twice to win 9-6. Although I wasn’t able to watch, it appeared Georgia Tech gave Georgia a tough game. Georgia came out on top of the 9-6 final score.
Finals
- Georgia v. Central Florida 13-4
Georgia rolled UCF in this anticlimactic final. Having met UCF in the round robin the day before may have helped UGA game-plan for UCF's zone in the rematch. It’s also possible that the game could have been closer, but UCF likely rested their starters after half to be ready for the backdoor finals.
Backdoor Semifinals
Despite their earlier loss to Vandy and a 2-4 record, Florida slipped into the back door semi-finals. By this point in the day, the fields were truly a mud pit, making cutting and running difficult.
Florida and Florida State know each other well, and FSU was itching for revenge after getting eliminated at Florida’s hand at last year’s Regionals. It was a game of runs from both teams with calm conditions which negated FSU’s zone and box-and-one defenses. Florida was able to prevent easy dumps and handler strike cuts, forcing many FSU turnover punts high in the stall count. Credit is due to Jackie Fane, Jenna Dahl and the rest of Florida's roster for playing a good game, but the pressure of the moment appeared to affect FSU as they committed many unforced errors, allowed easy open under cuts and dropped wide-open passes. After a string of sloppy marathon points, FSU was on the goal line, trying to make the score 7-6 before hard cap could go off, but an errant throw led to a turnover and a long injury time-out after veteran FSU handler Megan Reeves was hurt trying to catch the score in a crowd. Subsequently, Florida quickly marched down the field to score and take the game 8-5.
As the coach of the losing team in this game, this was one of the more crushing losses of my ultimate career. Hopefully, FSU can learn from this and will get another shot at Nationals next year.
Backdoor Finals
After UCF's surprise defeat at Regionals last year, they were not going to be denied this year. Sunny Harris, Mariel Hammond and the rest of the Sirens were determined to make it to Madison, and they did not mess around in this game. Florida would score the first point but did not score again in the first half. UCF went up 8-1 and coasted to a 13-5 victory. UCF certainly deserved to make Nationals after years of hard work and dedication, hats off to them.
Georgia and UCF are very good teams and are both capable of making deep runs at Nationals. Good luck to both teams. Represent the Southeast well!
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