Who are the best players in the South Central region? This is an open thread to discuss All-Region nominations, All-Freshman nominations, coaching awards, and more. Stay positive and keep it civil.
From Rice:
Angela Aie- great decision-making as a handler, very accurate and difficult to mark break throws, incredibly fast
Julie Doar- solid handler
Valerie Pinillos- a ferocious cutter, she never stops working, really hard to guard deep, fast and brings great itnensity
From Rice- I agree with MHeckendorn. I would add #5- Kelsey Nanneman. As a competitor, I loved picking up against her. She plays tough, risky (but rewarding) defense, and calm, collected offense. She plays with a competitive fire. I would also add #3 Sam Paulsen- She is a new addition to Rice this year. She is a graduate student, who plays with the knowledge and skill of a fifth year. I was impressed at her ability to integrate into the Rice program. Despite it being her first year with them, she is dominant and plays like she’s been with Rice all along.
From the University of Dallas:
Olivia Maria (#37)- She seems to run UDU’s offense, and also create turnovers on defense.
Kate Gapp (#44)- Very spirited player who seriously doesn’t give up on any disc, offense or defense.
From Trinity:
Molly Lenihan #15- Incredible athlete. She has great grabs in the air, low to the ground, and great throws. She is consistently a threat on the field, offense or defense.
From JBU’s Savage Skies:
Greta Smith #33- It was clear that Savage Skies constantly wanted to put the disc in her hands. She had no difficulty getting open and making hard break throws to progress the disc down the field. I was amazed at her ability to work hard on offense and defense, while playing the majority of the points.
Also, from JBU (this took some major creeping)- I think she is #13, but her name is Peyton Rudisill. She seems to be a younger player on JBU, but she used her superior athleticism to make things happen for JBU on offense and defense. I anticipate her taking JBU to great things next year and being a dominant SC D3 lady to watch for.
From Truman State’s Tsunami:
Sam Daugherty #34- Amazing handler. She has powerful hucks (backhand and flick), but knows when to holster. As a handle, she is never afraid to bust to the endzone when the occasion calls for it.
Julianne Dworak #44- Umm, awkward, this is me.
Emilie Willingham #10- Despite being sick and injured at Regionals, Emilie consistently made big plays for Tsunami on offense and defense. She is known to look for the IO flick at the endzone, and she is dominant as the monster. Another Tsunami lady this year who made the transition from cutter to handler seamlessly.
Emma Randolph #6- Dominant cutter. In a zone offense she shreds through the defense to progress the disc down the field with the handles. She is confident with the disc downfield, but sets up her handles in power position quite often. She is unforgiving on defense. She will run through a disc and then run straight to the endzone without looking back.
Christy Crouse #11- Christy has been a downfield threat the last couple of years, especially deep threat. However, this year Christy has transitioned to a handler. She is now a dominant handle, working the disc across to the breakside confidently using her around break throw. With that being said, she will also bust deep when given the opportunity and strike for days to gain yards. On defense she picks up tough matches and creates turnovers. Her speed and athleticism have served her well, and this year she has taken her game a step further with her knowledge and skill.
From Rice I would also like to suggest Angela Yang (#11). Angela is one of Rice’s go-to handlers and a key element of Rice’s offense.
I definitely second Val, Angela Aie, and Julie Doer. Val is an incredibly versatile player, playing strong under, deep and zone offense. Julie is actually a cutter that is also a consistent handler. She has amazing under-cuts and can get open on just about any defender. She also has amazing defense and is known for her offensive and defensive layouts.
From TSU -
I definitely second Emilie Willingham, Emma Randolph, and Julianne Dworak. I also remember Callie Warren as a very solid cutter and defender.
For coaching awards, I would love to nominate Ashley Shelor and Sharon Tsao from Rice University.
Though they are my coaches at Rice, I think that they are objectively amazing. Both have significant ultimate experience and dedicate an impressive amount of time to the team, planing practices and workouts, but also meeting with players individually to work on throwing or fitness. On multiple occasions I have gone to the coaches asking for specific advice on improving endurance, throwing skills, and field awareness. Each time they have responded with a specific workout plan to fit my need or have agreed to help me one-on-one outside of practice.
Furthermore, this past year we lost many talented seniors, and our coaches have done an amazing job integrating new players with the team, to the point where we dont have limited all-star lines up as we did in previous years. We feel comfortable playing essential points with rookies on the line, and the rookies are really an essential part of our team. This integration has made us so much better as a team, and we could not have done it without the coaches.
Rice:
Angela Aie
Valerie Pinillos