USA Ultimate

Women's Division North Central Regionals Preview

The North Central Region has been characterized by rapid development of women's ultimate relative to most other areas of the country. Characterized by the strength of two teams, Carleton College Syzygy and Wisconsin Bella Donna, for the past five years, this is clearly not the case in 2011. Like elsewhere, more parity exists among top teams than there ever has been. Teams are eager to get their shot to qualify for one of the three bids available to the D-I College Championships.
 
Regionals brings a new face to the tournament. The Nebraska Cuddle Raptors qualified for regionals in their first time in the Series. Anchored by the handling of captain Emily Langland and defensive tenacity of Geena Torti, Nebraska is looking to upset some teams and lay a foundation for a strong program.
 
Regionals also brings some returning faces. As of Monday night, the only team that has accepted is Wisconsin-B, who will enjoy a home crowd in Appleton. Atropa has had a building year, but co-captains Emily Orner and Anna Shanedling have been molding the inexperienced squad well. Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Macalester have been offered bids to D-I Regionals, to round out the list of teams represented this weekend, pending acceptance of bids. 
 
Luther College's Freya came off a strong finish at the North Central D-III Conference Championships, qualifying for D-I Regionals after winning over Grinnell College. This team has demonstrated they can ball with the big schools at Midwest Throwdown and College Southerns. Senior cutter Jeni Arbuckle knows her team has been gunning for D-I Regionals all year. "Freya is excited to play against some great competition at D-I Regionals and we're all looking forward to having fun, spirited games over the weekend," Arbuckle highlights.
 
Minnesota is another team who has made some recent noise. The Ninjas, coming off a solid tournament win at Chicago Invite, upset Carleton College in a universe point win during the final round of pool play at the Western North Central D-I Conference Championship. Junior Worlds standout handler Natalie Depalma anchors the young talent on this team.

One of the biggest stories comes from the Lake Superior Conference Championships: the upset of Wisconsin-Eau Claire over Wisconsin. This marks only the second time in SOL's history of beating Wisconsin, and only the first in the series. Prior to this season, the closest SOL has ever come to a series win was in 2008 with a universe point loss in Sectional Finals. Wisconsin has had a roller coaster season. Plagued by injuries, the Bellas go into the series without Sara Scott, who is sidelined with a season-ending ACL injury. “Wisconsin is taking the ups and downs of our regular season in stride as we enter into Regionals,” says co-captain Emelie McKain. The bottom line: don't count the Bellas out. McKain, Jenny Gaynor, and Rachael Westgate lead the charge in preparing the team for regionals. McKain comments that “[Wisconsin] has improved on all fronts, now being able to utilize outdoor space, yet still deals with harsh weather conditions. Each hardship of our season has been turned into fuel for us as we are eager to prove what we are really made of this weekend in Appleton.” 
 
SOL vets co-captain handler Brit Gartner, speedster Melissa Jordan, and utility player Jess Haller are working to bring the momentum from the Conference Championship tournament win into Regionals. “This year has been filled with learning experiences for our team of many new players and returners striving to get better,” says Gartner. ”We have had many ups and downs and as a first year captain it has easily been the most challenging and rewarding experience I have yet encountered. SOL is looking to continue demonstrating our FUNtensity and depth when we show up to hopefully surprise a few teams at North Central Regionals this year!”
 
From the Western North Central come three teams that have been showing strong results from the regular season: Iowa State, Iowa, and Carleton College. Syzygy has been traveling around the country throughout the season to big tournaments, building depth in their super talented roster. The Anna Reed and Anna and Julia Snyder combination is deadly on offense and defense. Look forward to the return of Marlena “Marley” Hartman-Filson and Merritt Swain, who have been out most of the season with injuries.
 
The final two teams have a friendly rivalry unmatched by other teams in the nation. The University of Iowa Saucy and Iowa State Woman Scorned have seen each other in every tournament except Centex, sometimes multiple times within a weekend. Both teams have depth, athleticism, and competitive spirit. Up until this point, Iowa has out-performed other regional competitors with wins at Midwest Throwdown, Easterns, and a semi-finals appearance at Centex. Iowa played the Conference tournament without Chelsea Twohig, who is out with a back injury. It’s unknown whether or not she will be back by Regionals. The question remains: how will Saucy Nancy step up to fill that role in starting rotation? Co-captains Andrea Uhl and Alyx Averkamp notably stepped up their play in Cedar Falls, giving even more depth to the dominant handling line. The breakdown of fundamentals cost Iowa the conference title, but the team is focused on moving forward, working each day on improvement, looking to defend their strong regular season finish.
 
Iowa State captured the 1-seed with a Conference win over Iowa. For everyone who was shocked by this outcome, don’t be. Woman Scorned is the real deal. They spent the season developing players to increase depth in their roster. Jasmine Draper, Magon Liu, and Jessie Erickson already stood out going into the season, but have found huge contributors in newer players such as Becca Miller, Cami Nelson, and Catie Bosco. We’ve seen Scorned struggle and triumph throughout the season, but grow considerably throughout the season. Will the Western North Central Conference Championship team bring the momentum to regionals?
 
The real question is who's going to Boulder? With three bids and a region marked by this much parity, it could be Woman Scorned, SOL, and Saucy Nancy. It could be Bella Donna, Syzygy, and Minnesota. Spoiler alert: it's anyone's tournament. This is going to be a nail biter... whoever brings their top game could very well be heading to Boulder. Stay tuned for a re-cap after the weekend!
 

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