The ride to Charlotte was surprisingly mild due to an awesome half way point at Cassie’s house. Her parents stayed up late until we got in, and introduced us to all of their animals. They also made us an amazing breakfast the next morning. It gave us the energy to spend the last 7 hours in the car and roll into Charlotte around 7pm. After Coach K gave a pretty solid pre tourney talk, scorned headed to bed dreaming of warm weather and grass fields.
Arriving to the fields I know I wasn’t the only one with butterflies. It was such an exciting moment to pull up and see all the teams throwing, and warming up. It finally had hit me that the spring season had started. It felt so good to listen to some ke$ha on boomy , and lace up my cleats.
During our first game against Maryland (helpful corn) nerves were high, for 7 of our 14 players it was their first spring tournament with scorned. For 2 it was their first college tournament ever. One of these being Linda (Liu), who scored 8 points in that game. (not to shabby) Maryland put up a hard fight, playing really tough D, but Scorned was able to get a few breaks in the first half, which put us in good position going into the second half. Scorned wins 13-6.
Our second game vs. Pitt was very intense. They are a very aggressive team, especially on D. Pitt took half, and Scorned had to calm down their offense to slow down the fast pace D of the Pitt ladies. Pesch and Cassie took control on offense making patient and effective decisions and working together on O. After a couple of big breaks, Scorned was able to put themselves in a position to take the game. 12-10
After a fun bye of karaoke (rookie-roake) and watching Seaweed, the Florida game was very fun and spirited. Sam played awesome calm O during this game, starting off the vert stack with big break throws. The Scorned offense was able to get some breaks, and work on offensive flow. 12-7
The most anticipated pool play game of the day was vs. Seaweed. They put up a good fight, playing feisty D, and aggressive O and had some big points as well as solid D’s. After struggling with their zone, Kelly “panda” Smith came in to play zone handler, and scorned was able to work it up against the strong seaweed cup. Due to some solid D, by Kaira, and big throws by Becca to “golden” cuts by Brittnee, Scorned was able to get a couple breaks and put themselves in a position to take the game. This game was full of spirit, and a love for Taylor, and the first point out of half scorned even rocked mustaches. 12-9 #seascorned
Having a first round bye Sunday morning, Scorned got to the fields while Wisconsin and Virginia were battling it out to play in the quarters. After a hard fought game Wisconsin came out on top (WOOO NC region!) It was exciting to play Bella Donna for the first, but certainly not the last time this spring season. After being down 3-7 Scorned fired up and went on a 5 point run to take half on Bella. Mag was throwing hucks left and right, even some to Linda! Mag and Becca got a ton of D’s putting Scorned in a position to score break after break. Even after half scorned kept it rolling playing some crazy d, and coming down with big scores. Wisconsin 13-11After moving up the hill, Scorned took on North Carolina to see who would make it to the finals. NC played a really strong structured offense and had some really strong throwers and downfield defenders. After coach K made some adjustments to our offense, scorned was able to tackle their handler poaches, and was able to get some big breaks on the NC Ladies. Thanks to them for such a spirited game, and for hosting the tournament. Also shout out to Virginia Hydra, during our half time karaoke of meet Virginia, and to UNC-W for supporting us during their bye. 14-11
It seemed just like that we had made our way into the finals, time flies when you are having fun. It was exciting to see Carlton so early in the season, in the past we haven’t played them until sectionals. It was evident Carlton has been working hard over the offseason. With a smaller roster than ours, Syzygy gave us a really tough game, playing hard D, and a strong vertical stack offense. Brittnee was an offensive force, scorning about 5 of our points that game, even though she has only been playing ultimate for like 2 weeks. Linda, and Kelly Shiro were forces to be reckoned with on D, playing solid positioning and denying their girl the Frisbee. Sara “Stu” shut down syzygy’s athletic downfield cutters. Kate had a couple incredible deep D’s where she should have shouted “not in my house!” Martha also had an awesome D in this game putting us in a position to score a break. After a hard fought game, with breaks on both sides, scorned was able to come out with the win, and take the title back home to our teammates and fans in Ames. 14-13
This weekend was absolutely amazing, I think it was one of the most fun tournaments I have ever been to. The playing level was high, the teams were friendly, and scorned proved that we were there to compete. More importantly than the competition was the bonding that happened among all the scorned ladies. Spring season is better in every way than the fall, and I think the rookies finally understood why. The playing level is higher and makes every point scored feel that much better. Every person on our roster played, and contributed to our win. With such a small roster, everyone had no choice but to step up and play their hearts out. The best part is we have more talented amazing people who did not go to the tournament. We have a big roster this year, but every player will get their chance to play and contribute, and that’s what makes our program great.
Scorned ladies, there is a lot of excitement about our past weekend, we came out and proved that we are a team to beat, but we are no where close to the team we want to be come regionals. I challenge you to find something to improve on between now and our next tournament, and hold yourself accountable. I hope we can funnel that excitement and channel it into commitment and hard work toward our next tournaments.
Thanks to: Our coaches Lana and Kevin, for everything! Gapstur for being #1 fan and supportive and helpful on the sideline, Michelle for a great tourney, Cassie’s parents, Cassie’s neighbor, Gapsturs aunt, Martha’s mom, Everyone who supported and followed us over the weekend