May 19, 2004
ItÕs that time of year again. The time when college students across the country have one thing on their mind: the UPA College Championships. This tournament is different from any of the tournaments leading up to it because it is the defining and culminating experience of the college Ultimate careers for many players. This year sixteen teams will meet in Seattle, WA, the weekend of May 28th through the 30th to face off and crown the national champion for 2004.
One of the unique aspects this year is that there is no clear favorite going into the weekend for the womenÕs division. As such, there are guaranteed to be numerous close games in every round of play. Nonetheless, the top four teams, UC-San Diego, MIT, UC-Davis, and Stanford, are still favored to be the teams playing during semifinals if they can hold off any major upsets. HereÕs a closer look at each of the four pools and how the top teams will potentially fare against each other.
Pool A consists of UC-San Diego, Carleton, Dartmouth and Brown and on paper looks like it might be one of the toughest pools of the tournament. University of California-San Diego dominated the competition at Southwest Regionals a few weeks ago, and they have been a team to fear all season long. Winning the competitive PresidentÕs Day tournament in February was a promising start to the teamÕs season. Since then, the Psychos made it to the finals of the Stanford Invite and won Spring Collegiates, entering the College Championships as the number one seed. San Diego has been known for its tough man defense, but combines their aggressive D with a fast paced offense that moves the disc quickly. Handlers Alicia White and Tracy Woo head up the experienced squad of athletic women, and if the team capitalizes on the depth of its roster, then they will be one of the teams playing heartfelt Ultimate late in the tournament.
However, Carleton is a formidable second seed in this pool. Carleton beat UC-San Diego at College Centex, although the two teamsÕ face-off at Spring Collegiates ended up the other way. Carleton also has a long history of performing well at the College Championshipsü and spending last year at home has only made them hungrier. Carleton is lead by Miranda Roth and lefty handler Maria Grigoryeva. In fact, the match-up between Callahan short-listers Roth and White should be one of the most dynamic of the tournament. Both players are fantastic athletes who are skilled in all aspects of the game and will provide fans with a tutorial in how to put it all on the line.
The third and fourth seeds in Pool A should also not be overlooked. While Dartmouth and Brown are ranked 12th and 13th at the tournament, they could each dole out some surprises to the teams seeded above them. Dartmouth handed MIT (the number two seed overall at the College Championships) its only loss so far during the College Series. Dartmouth has also posted wins over other tough teams, such as Oregon and Tufts, and is a team that can play at a high level when its offense and defense are clicking. While Brown came in third in the New England region, the team did beat Dartmouth at the Stanford Invite. Also, Brown did not lose too many of its star players from the team that played in the semifinals of the College Championships last year. Players to watch from Brown include Shirley Wu and Rebecca Simon, although there are a number of players who make big plays for the team.
Pool B is headed up by MIT, but also includes UC-Berkeley, North Carolina State, and Iowa. MIT finished second at last yearÕs College Championships and this year has made the semis of the Stanford Invite and College Centex and won the Yale Cup. MIT then went on to win the New England Region. The team returned most of its core players from last year, many of which played together during the club season. Nancy Sun is the team leader with her precision forehand, but she is backed up by Kathy Dobson and April Lehman in the deep space and a number of other skilled players who all come together to play great team defense. During the past couple of years, MIT has a good history of performing well when it counts, which should take them far this year.
Nonetheless, MIT faces a tough draw in pool play as they have to face UC-Berkeley, a team MIT only beat by one point at College Centex. In fact, Berkeley has beaten teams that have either beaten or played close games with sMITe during the regular season. Berkeley has one of the most experienced handling core of teams at the tournament, lead by Rowan Sill, Andrea Jung, and Kath Radcliff. When these handlers are connecting with the teamÕs big receivers, it is a formidable combination. Also, teams will have to be ready for BerkeleyÕs many zone defenses that are sure to make their appearances if the weather is at all windy.
Neither North Carolina State nor Iowa will roll over in this pool. At Regionals this year, NCSU beat perennial qualifier Georgia to make the College Championships. Lead by Molly Doyle, NCSU has also beat Dartmouth and Rutgers among the teams that will be playing at next weekendÕs tournament. Additionally, this is IowaÕs second consecutive year playing at the College Championships. Although the team lost a few of its key players from the team that placed 10th last year, Iowa still managed to have twelve returning players who all have more experience this time around. Unfortunately, IowaÕs limited roster of only 14 players could hurt them in later rounds during the day.
Pool C contains UC-Davis, Texas, Claremont, and Rutgers. Despite a slow start at PresidentÕs Day, Davis has continually improved all season long and just recently won the highly competitive Northwest region. This year the team has a number of fifth-year players, but the team often relies on the connections between handler Julie Baker and second-year receiver Danielle Manning. Baker has the throws to control an entire game, and any team that hopes to beat Davis will have to find a way to minimize the impact of her break-mark throws. Regardless of some early season losses, Davis has been facing challenging competition in the Northwest ever since and is battle-tested at this point in the season.
Two of DavisÕ losses were to Texas, now the second seed in Pool C. Texas was a surprise quarterfinalist at last yearÕs College Championships, and it has made a point of traveling to top tournaments with the purpose of improving on their finish this year. In fact, there was hardly a major tournament all season long that Mˇlˇe did not attend, although it was forced to play at a few tournaments without its star player, Cara Crouch. Nonetheless, Texas has beaten UC-Berkeley and Carleton during the regular seasonŃproving itself as a team to be reckoned with.
Claremont and Rutgers both traveled to a number of tournaments
this season, although each on their respective coasts. Claremont beat Dartmouth at the
Stanford Invite, but has not played most of the teams at the College
Championships. Still, they have
shown that they are a quality team by winning the Stanford Invite Qualifier
decisively and by qualifying from usually tough Southwest region. Rutgers qualified out of the Metro East
region, an impressive feat given that they only have eleven players on their
roster. Minimizing fatigue will be
the biggest factor in how far Rugters can go at this tournament, although the
team has managed to fare well at other competitive tournaments like Queen City
Tune Up and Terminus.
Pool D has Stanford facing Virginia, Penn State, and Illinois. Stanford played an impressive early season, winning both the Stanford Invite and College Centex. Despite winning the Bay Area Sectionals, they then lost to UC-Davis at Regionals and came in second. Nonetheless, Stanford won the College Championships last year, and they have appeared in the finals a total of eight times over the past nine years. Team leaders Jennifer Burney, Karen Milch, Enessa Janes, and Lauren Casey are bent on making sure that Stanford maintains its track record of peaking over Memorial Day weekend. The number of defenses and offensive plays that Stanford has in its arsenal should go a long way in helping them achieve their goals.
Of course, Stanford will have to face the dark horse of the tournament in pool play. Virginia enters the tournament ranked fifth, but they have not lost a single game all season and boast a record of 38-0. Unfortunately, Virginia did not compete at any tournaments with the other top eight teams this season, so it is tough to compare the teamÕs strength with that of teams with more history. Regardless, Virginia is a team with strong fundamentals and solid defense that can probably take on anyone at the tournament. Watch for Beth Oppenheimer to air out her hucks and inspire her team to victories along the way.
Penn State was a national quarterfinalist in 2003, but will have to win in a major upset to repeat that performance this year. An upset is not out of the question for this team that won the Metro East region and has played a number of competitive games all year long. The team seems to rely on Sarah Lahm to lead the offense and defense, and she rises to the occasion with grace. Illinois will certainly have its work cut out for it in this pool. Still, Illinois did win the Great Lakes region and has competed at tournaments like Mardi Gras, where the team gained valuable experience playing against tough competition.
The bottom line is that no one can predict exactly whatÕs going to happen when the first horn blows and the games officially start. With so many teams in contention for a berth in the championship bracket, teams are going to have to play their best in order to end the season with their hopes and dreams fulfilled. Fans of womenÕs college Ultimate are in for a treatÉ