Who are the best players in the Ohio Valley region? This is an open thread to discuss All-Region nominations, All-Freshman nominations, coaching awards, and more. Stay positive and keep it civil.
Some names for consideration, mostly from northeast Ohio (I coach the Akron team):
All-Region:
- Akron: Iris Javersak, Hayley Groubert
- Case Western: Sophia Knowles, Dani Runzo
- Cincinnati: Kelsey Gibboney
All-Freshman:
- Akron: Megan Harris
WC: Christina Lammey, Danielle Byers, Rachel Crew, and Liz Hart.
Pitt: Carolyn Normile
The only teams I’ve seen consistently are OSU and Pitt.
Pitt: Carolyn Normile, Linda Morse, Vaughan Skinker, Caterina Pagano
OSU: Stevie Miller, Sadie Jezierski, Katie Backus, Alaine Wetli
Pitt had two freshmen that stood out to me: Abby Bomberger and Lakshmi Ilango. Both tall cutters who are good in the air and deep space.
Pitt- Linda Morse, Carolyn Normile, Vaughan Skinker
Penn State- Amel Awakelkarim, Joann Chen, Malti Mckinnon
Ohio State- Sadie Jezierski, Stevie Miller, Katie Backus
West Chester- Danielle Byers, Hannah Short, Ashley Cantasano
Temple- Danielle Walsh, Kathleen Raftery
I don’t know anything about Cincinnati, Case Western and Akron. Sorry 
These are the players that stood out to me this weekend and my teammates on OSU that I think deserve consideration.
Penn State:
Amel - great handle, the player our defense really focused on stopping in order to cut off offensive flow. On top of her skill she is also incredibly spirited.
Malti - versatile player, switching from handling to cutting. Great in the air and awesome bids throughout the game.
Akron:
Iris - definitely their play maker, great breaks and intense play.
West Chester:
No. 8 - I don’t know her name, but she is their go to cutter. She is seriously speedy and continued to burn us deep.
Case Western:
Sophia Knowles - an absolute play maker. The team runs through her and with good reason. She’s speedy, skilled, and had some very impressive layout grabs.
Pitt:
Normile, Morse, and Skinker - all excellent players on both sides of the disc. Really challenged us to step up our game.
OSU:
Sadie Jezierski (#11) - only a sophomore and she is a huge play maker for us. Huge throws, great speed, nasty bids, and insane catches.
Stevie Miller (#5) - handler that sets the offensive pace. Great decision making and consistency. If we’re ever stagnant she knows how to get things moving. Superior knowledge of the game.
Katie “Zeus” Backus (#12) - an incredibly reliable cutter. Able to get open deep and under, huge in the air, and will make the big down field continue throws. Great deep D.
Alaine “Shakes” Wetli (#3) - she hasn’t been called the “layout queen” for nothin. Great plays on both sides of the disc. Leader on and off the field.
Emily “JRod” Steedman (#14) - exactly what you want in a handle, excellent decision making, consistency, and an ability to get open for the resets.
Corinn “Champ” Pruitt (#16) - speedy cutter and aggressive defender. Great in the air, very consistent, and a clutch player when we need her.
Mary Turner (#22) - great cutter and will save your butt with layout grabs and even just her speed alone. Aggressive defender willing to bid and able to contest discs in the air.
FOTY: Annelise Peters (#9) - I’ve never seen a rookie more dedicated to improving than this kid. This was her first year playing ultimate ever and after a season she has huge throws, fantastic defense, field awareness, and is overall a big contributor on the field. Expect big things from her over the next few years.
I have an OSU bias and while Sadie and Stevie headline the team with Alaine aka Shakes in the mix, I’ll put this little tidbit in for Katie “Zeus” Backus.
She has is wrapping up her career with 5 nationals appearances (only 1 of 20 or so listed to have done this on the women’s side) and so far has 4 top 10 finishes (1,3,5, & 9) and was an integral part of all those teams.
Individually, she is most known for her deep skills, routinely coming down with the disc over girls that are taller and can even jump higher. She just has a knack for reading the disc and timing her jump. I’ll just end this by linking to one of my favorites that showed this ability with her catching a blading forehand that wasn’t even meant for her:
For FOTY everyone should consider Anna Thompson from UPenn. She immediately became the go-to player on this year, tossing dime hucks, getting layout Ds, and overall running the offense. Although Penn wasn’t at Regionals this year, I’m sure she will be a player to watch in the next few years as she continues to get even more dominant.
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