USA Ultimate

Women's Division Southwest Regionals Preview

The New Southwest

How many Championships level teams can you squeeze into one region?  It feels like a twisted psychology experiment: take four teams that have made it to the semifinals of the College Championships virtually every year since 2005, add a few more teams that consistently make it to the quarterfinals, and let them wrestle for three total bids.  Eight of the sixteen 2011 Southwest Regionals contenders have competed at nationals in the last decade.  Welcome to the New Southwest.

PHOTO CREDIT: Anna Nazarov, taken at Sean Ryan

“I think it's good that other teams are getting the chance, but I don't like that it's at the expense of teams who have proved themselves multiple times in past years,” says Kyle McBard of UCLA BLU.  “We're ranked 4th behind UCSB, Cal, and Stanford, and I do think that those 4 are going to be the top competitors.”  Not everybody is worried: Cal coach Joy Chen notes that the Pie Queens “went from one highly competitive region to an equally competitive one.  The names of the teams are different, but the road to Nationals is just as hard.” With go-to handler Sabrina "Kodiak" Fong finally cleared to play for BLU after a broken foot and star thrower Maya Gillis-Chapman of Cal out for the tournament, the playing field may be closer than both teams predict.

California-Santa Barbara has finished top two the last four years straight (that’s four finals appearances in four years, for those keeping track at home).  UCSB went home #1 in 2009, so they know how it feels to bring home a trophy.  The Burning Skirts are riding consecutive tournament wins at the Stanford Invite, Centex, and Conferences, which captain Carolyn Finney attributes to “playing tough D…If we do that again and play smart O, we will hopefully go on to Boulder.”  UCSB’s struggles early in the season and youthful team leaves us wondering if they’ve peaked or if the best is yet to come.

PHOTO CREDIT: Anna Nazarov, taken at Sean Ryan

There are eight past qualifiers for the College Championships in this division, and three bids to Boulder this Memorial Day.  Stanford, a perennial powerhouse that snatched a hat trick of gold medals from 2005 – 2007 under the tutelage of Robin Knowler and others, has added a new coach in Jamie Nuwer, Superfly alumnus herself who added player and coach for UCLA BLU and Midas to her résumé between 2004 and 2007.  It’s been an up and down year for Stanford, including a 7th and 6th place finish at Centex and their own Stanford Invite, respectively, and sweeps of both the Santa Barbara Invite in January and NorCal Conference Championships in April, to bookend their season thus far.  What are Jamie Nuwer’s predictions for Regionals? “Given our ability to play well in both calm and windy conditions during conference championships, I think Stanford is well positioned to win Southwest Regionals.”

Let’s not disregard the other twelve teams.  Sonoma State’s red Ls on the score reporter belie an enormously difficult season of competition for a team with no Championships experience.  “In order to go to Nationals we need to beat one of the big three: Cal, Stanford, or UCSB,” says D’Vine captain Maggie Ruden.  “It is quite a task, but we are more than ready for the challenge.”  Wins over some key Southwest teams, including UCLA and Southern California in January, California-Santa Cruz at the Stanford Invite, and California-Davis at Conferences will keep them competitive.  (Maggie’s experience on San Francisco women’s club team Zeitgeist has no doubt been a huge boon for her leadership and Sonoma’s chances in the series.)  Their experience competing in-region could help or hurt, but there’s something to be said for being free from a historical high mark from previous years to hold you back mentally.  Their most limiting factor, however, may not be the past but the present: with only fifteen women on their roster, a full season of Ultimate may finally take its toll on D’Vine.

PHOTO CREDIT: Anna Nazarov, taken at Sean Ryan

UCLA has a lot of Ws that keep them high in the running, including one over Stanford in February.  Southern California, a recent fixture at Championships, went from finishing 19th in Columbus in 2009, to 5th in Madison in 2010.  The Hellions graduated 12 out of 20 players from last season, and will struggle to keep up.  Both teams benefit from stellar coaching in Alex Korb (UCLA) and Frankie Rho (USC), who consistently turn rookies into superstars season after season.  “Leaving Centex, we returned to Los Angeles with a laundry list of things to work on,” explains USC captain Lauren Eng.  “Conference was a great example of how we used those four weeks to grow and to continue to expand our game.”  It remains to be seen if these improvements continue into Regionals and, fingers crossed, Championships.

Most expert predictions have some permutation of Santa Barbara, Stanford, and Cal hanging on standby for a flight to Boulder.  UCLA's unexpectedly poor performance at Centex may have lost the Southwest the 4th bid, and unfortunately they may have only hurt themselves. California-Santa Cruz, California-San Diego, and California-Davis are years removed and rosters away from their Championship appearances, and aren’t expected to cause a ruckus at Regionals.  Unlike in years past, the strength of—and bids for—a region are determined during the regular season, leaving some teams bitter about their local competitors’ performances at nationally competitive tournaments.  Sources point to competitors’ losses at Centex as particularly painful for some other teams on the edge of finishing top three finding themselves without a fourth bid to aid their chances at a shot to the Championships.

PHOTO CREDIT: Anna Nazarov, taken at Sean Ryan

Three bids, eight teams vying to return, and many more looking for their first shot at the College Championships: the New Southwest starts its first year of USAU series tournaments with a bang. 

##

Questions/Comments?  Discuss in this event discussion thread. 

preview

preview

preview

preview

preview

preview

preview

preview

preview

preview

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

recap

recap

recap

recap

recap

recap

recap

recap

recap

recap

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W

O

W