Illinois State Women's Ultimate: Sectionals 2010...THE Sectionals...

SO...I refrained from writing a sectionals preview because our schedule was changed like 7 times before it was finalized. I told the girls at our last practice before sectionals that no matter what the schedule looks like, we're going to have to bring the pain...ok I don't think I ACTUALLY said "Bring the Pain", however, it was most definitely implied.

Our first game was against Wheaton. We ran our warmup and about 7 minutes before the game were thinking "Uh...where's Wheaton?" Well, poor Wheaton forgot about the time changed and literally showed up at the fields 5 minutes before game time. Usually I wouldn't have a problem giving them a couple minutes to cleat up, get a couple throws in, whatnot, but since games were to 11 with 60 minute rounds there really wasn't time to waste. They were good sports about it though and were ready to go by 9am sharp. Props, Wheaton...I can only imagine the speeding they had to do to get there on time. Ha. The game itself was quick. I believe we went up on them 4-0 before they got on the board. It was 6-2, ISU at half and the final score was 11-4. The game was kind of a blur for me...although I recall a lot of drops on both ends, which I knew wouldn't fly against Northwestern.

Game #2 was against Northwestern. We were pretty stoked to play Northwestern, especially since the last time we played them was in the championship of Glory Days when we lost 10-13...EVEN after scoring off and UPWIND HAMMER. Damn. I SO thought that would seal the deal. BUT ANYWAY the wind decided to pick up for this game (awesome) and Northwestern knew how to capitalize on it. It also didn't help that we lost the flip. They came out strong, ready to play and had great movement in the wind. Our cup had nothing on them and it took a few points for us to get used to the flood stack they ran...the same one we run. mmhmm. We didn't score an upwinder all game...they did...a couple times...and that was that. Final: Northwestern 11, ISU 6.

The wind decided to REALLY pick up for our next game against Purdue. This time, though, WE were the ones using it to our advantage. We won the flip, and went up on Purdue 3-0 (awe yeah, check that upwinder.) We continued to protect our downwinders for the rest of the game and that strategy worked for us. Final: ISU 11 Purdue: 6

The last game of the day was against Indiana, the 3 seed in our pool (we were #4), so this game was pretty important. You see, breaking seed in our pool would lock us a place in Regionals, so this game was kindofabiddeal. We won the flip (yaaaay) and Indiana immediately scored an upwinder (boooo)...and then a downwinder...and then another upwinder...and then I called a timeout. I don't remember what I said, but I can only assume it sounded a lot like what I said when we were losing to Grinell last semester last semester at No Wisco, because it definitely changed the the game for us. We went out and scored an upwinder...and then it became a game. We fought for every point, everyone played their hearts out, but sadly, after fighting for an upwinder, we lost 6-7 because of cap (and that's why 60-minute games are dumb...especially at SECTIONALS). Props to Catie J though...CALLAHAAAAAN.

This was ok though, because it meant we held seed...OH WAIT. North Park (2 seed) lost to Notre Dame - B (6 seed), meaning that we came out of Saturday 2nd in our pool. NICE.

On Sunday we had to finish pool play with our games against ND-B and North Park. I have to say, ND-B definitely did not look like a B-team. They had some quick handlers and cutters with very good hands. I was impressed. We were also not playing our best. We had a first round bye that day, and ND-B was warmed up from their Purdue game. We managed to pull it out (HA, AMY) though. Final: ISU 9 ND-B 5

Last we had to play North Park. I'll admit, I was worried. They knew that they NEEDED the win, or else regionals would be a stretch, and they looked pretty intimidating during their warmups...and when their entire team sat on the sidelines watching our game against ND-B. Also, in years past, our games against North Park have generally been pretty close...and uh...we had never beaten them. We came out ready to play though and scored 5 unanswered points. Notgunnalie, it felt pretty good. our movement was fast, our handling was solid, and our sidelines were lively. Final: ISU 11 NPU 3 Regionals = clinched

Next we played Chicago in the first round of bracket-play. We saw them at Glory Days and didn't have a whole lot of difficulty with them, however, at that tournament they were missing a couple Nemesis players, which definitely made a difference in our game against them. What was interesting about our game with them was that they were pretty much our twin team...seriously...we played the EXACT same way. We exchanged uphill/downhill points all game (yes, the uneven terrain was THAT much of a factor). Both teams would rock some quick handler movement before launching it downfield for the downhill point. We were finally able to work it uphill with a SWEET layout from Sam in the endzone...only to have the thrower get stalled. Damn. But it was ok, because we the next time around we worked it uphill and finally took the lead. Final: ISU 13 Chicago 10.

Our final game of the day was agianst Indiana, again. The game started out the SAME as the day before. They went up 3-0 and I called a TO. Unfortunately, this time we didn't pick it up like we did the day before. I think the bottom line is that we were just out of gas from our Chicago game. Final Indiana 13 ISU 5

So we went into Sectionals ranked 8th and came out ranked...5th, qualifying us for Regionals for the FIRST TIME IN ISU WOMEN'S ULTIMATE HISTORY. You know what? That's pretty awesome. I love my team, and I'm glad that we could make this happen my senior year. Way to go, Ladies, now enjoy sine of my fav photos from the weekend. Props to Becky McDonald and My mom for taking pictures!

This one probably speaks for itself but...