Results:
Going into the tournament seeded 13th we had the absolute best schedule. Our entire pool had a first round bye and being 4th in the pool we had a last round bye as well. Thank you to all that helped make the original rankings.
One thing I’ve learned from this weekend is that I should tweet more. It makes recounting the games much easier. My scores are all over the place. I try 
Saturday
Lets start with Friday. Murphy’s law hit us hard. All of our flights were delayed. Coach Terry got stuck and LA and ended up renting a car and meeting us in San Bernardino, where we were playing the first day. Whitney decided to prove a point to all of the n00bs (those are ZEROS not the letter “O”) when her checked bag, cleats included, got lost. Always remember: cleats and uniform in the carry on. We made it to the hotel finally. The last time I looked at my clock was 1:30am. That’s 3:30 Texas time. It was a rough day of travel.
Luckily we had a first round bye and got to sleep a few hours. Some more than others. I had the usual pre-tournament sleepless night. The first night is always the worst but it’s all part of the experience. I rarely get nervous before games but am usually anxious and ready to get going in the nights before.
Day 1 started strong with our first game against Carleton. We were prepared to play Kali and didn’t notice the schedule change, just paying attention to the times so it was a surprise. We played Carleton at nationals, went up 3-0, and then ended up losing the game 15-9. It was time for a rematch. We started strong, something we often fail to do, and were up 5-3. They answered back with a five point run and we let the game go, losing 7-10. It was nationals all over again.
After a disappointing first round we played Humbolt State next. It’s easy to get overconfident when you meet an unheard of team ranked below you. In true Melee fashion we came out slow and found ourselves down 1-4. Also in true Melee fashion, a few great plays for a score brought us to 2-4, and we went on a 6 point run to take half. Sharon Tsao went down after a collision in the air late in the game and was out for the rest of the tournament. She’s a huge player and it was a big loss. The final score was 9-7 in a game that was uncomfortably close. I trust my team and wasn’t ever worried but I would have preferred to not get down by three at the beginning.
The Colorado game was by far my favorite of the weekend. As our new regional rivals we wanted to win this game more than anything and had been preparing for it since the schedule was first posted. My worst “injury” of the weekend belongs to captain Shannon Waugh from an aggressive pre-game hug where our knees hit. Using shady tactics to win the game? Definitely. I don’t have any tweeted scores from the game because it started raining and I kept my phone hidden. I think it was 7-4 or 7-5 at half? I know this because a Kali girl threw a perfect pass to me in the endzone, I went to catch it (I’ve learned my lesson after many of my D’s have been tipped and caught by the opposing team) and managed to tip it right into the hands of the girl I was guarding to take half. It stopped raining almost as fast as it started and the sun came out. We fought back to tie it at 8′s in hard cap. The last point was just plain exciting. There were a few heated calls, a lot of great plays, and an epic footblock by Shannon on Janel Venzant. It was so good that our coach just laughed from the sidelines. We got the D, the rest was a blur and we scored the final point. Many posts ago I wrote about the Kali-Melee love affair. After the game we were all friends again and I even heard an apology for a feisty call made during the game. That’s definitely you’d only see in ultimate.
The final game of the day was against Cal. The rain came back. And the wind. And at one point it definitely hailed on me. Sonic ice sized hail. Complacent after our win against Colorado, tired from the previous games, and increasingly unmotivated as the weather took a turn for the worse, we effectively gave the Pie Queens the game. I really would have liked to play them in better conditions, it was a fun game. Big aside: We have an interesting relationship with Cal. In case you were not aware, a bet many years ago resulted in our teams creating a dance for the other, which started the now infamous Centex dance-off. The melee-pie queen love was a big factor in convincing Michelle Ng to come to Texas for grad school. Summary: Cal wins 13-4.
Sunday
One of our goals for the season is to win the first game on Sunday. We tend to start out slow and sometimes just can’t manage to catch up.
Game 1 was against Western Washington in the lower power pool games. The winner of the pool makes it to pre-quarters. Chaos took half. The tweet says “A little slow on the start. Western Washington takes half. On O downwind.” I think I was just too disappointed to state the actual score after we were down by three at one point. We started throwing a zone and trapping hard on the sideline forcing messy throws and made a run to catch up in the second half. They tried to throw zone once and we shredded it. Didn’t happen again although we were all hopeful. We tied the score 12-12 in hardcap. I was a little nervous going upwind but we had a solid line and was quite hopeful. We got the turn, close to their endzone. Almost instantly they got it back. My back was to the disc so I didn’t see, possibly a handblock. The transition was flawless. I turned around to see a girl with the disc with an easy throw to two unguarded players in the endzone. There was no chance of making it down field and several of us just stood still and watched the game end. The first girl didn’t catch it, something that almost never happened against this team, but the disc was going straight for the second girl. The game was still over. Out of nowhere I see Brady bulldoze through the endzone. Chaos ensues (no pun intended). I hear the sound of the disc hitting something hard, arms flailing as Western Washington tries to save it, Brady’s hat in the air, and finally the disc hitting the ground in the back of the endzone. She had just got a run through D with her forehead. Now going upwind, a scrappy play on an overthrown I/O flick break, a less than perfect backhand huck caught by an unintended receiver, and then short flick from a rookie ended the game 13-12.
We are 4-0 on universe for the season. Just gotta catch up first.
Courtney King, captain of Arizona, played with a handful of Melee on the club team Up For Grabs in 2009. I claim any success they have. Obviously we taught her everything she knows The Scorch game was back and forth. They took half 7-6. Cap went on at 8-7 and they pulled out an upwind score for the win. It wasn’t the best Melee showing and I’m not sure what happened nor am I pleased with the results, but if we are going to lose I’d rather it be to a team I like. It’s always fun playing friends, especially when their teammates are nice. Dear pink cleats. I forgot your name. Sexy throws. 9-7 bad guys.
The final game against UC-Davis was especially great because Melee alum Gina Phillips (’05-’08) was on the sidelines. Janel and I had the “I must play good to show her how much we’ve improved!” mentality and it worked out pretty well. We came out strong and finished the game 13-6.
Playing for 13th Monday.
Monday
We were hoping to change the bracket play a new team Monday but Western Washington wanted a rematch. The game was not pretty. It was obvious we were tired. All I can say is that we beat ourselves in that game. We couldn’t seem to break their poachy defense. We had silly drops and they caught everything. I even had a less than pretty D attempt result with us both on the ground and was deciding whether or not to contest the foul that was about to be called only to discover she was on her feet ready to throw. How did you do that? Ridiculous. They scored 4 unanswered points to start the game. We more or less traded points after that but it was too late. 13-10.
We met Humbolt State again for another rematch. Our team was exhausted. I found myself in the field cutting a lot. About halfway through the game got a second wind and had a grand old time running around the field unnecessarily just to watch my girl chase me. Everyone knows I hate running more than almost anyone, I’m not sure what happened. I’ll blame the coconut water. I’m now inspired to run every day just because it was so incredibly entertaining. Is that bad? Tool points for sure. 13-10 Texas.
Melee finishes 15th at Pres Day.
Easterns in three weeks.