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.
Arkansas played JBU over 5 times this season, and has a lot of respect for their team. Especially two dynamic handles, Emily Tumilty and Katelyn “Twiz” Patterson. They are hands down a shoe-in for All Region. The give and go to set up easy break throws to their vert upfield makes it a very tough outting for opposing teams. They are both very accurate throwers, with the whole arsenal of throws at their disposal, and their chemistry when on the field together makes them even that much better.
We saw a lot of awesome talent at regionals this weekend, but there were a few players that stood out to me from other teams:
From TSU:
#5 (Thomas) had amazing throws (even in the wind) and was always able to get open for the reset. She communicated really well with her cutters downfield and played very smart defense.
#25 (Tiller) stood out for her awesome defense, consistent throws and some AMAZING grabs. She also had great endurance on the field and never seemed to stop cutting.
#57 (Tucker) also stood out for her throws and some sick bids.
From Air Force
#97 (Bruns) definitely made us adapting our defense to try and stop her hucks downfield. She was also incredibly quick and consistently got open for the reset.
#6 (Lask) definitely has great speed and played some awesome defense.
From Trinity
#11 (O’Shei) - I have definitely played against O’Shei a few times and I always remember her hucks and speedy strike cuts!
Truman saw a lot of great talent at regionals as well.
From Rice:
#3 (Paulsen) stood out for her amazing throws and tireless effort on the field. She also had some great lay-out D’s. She also had some excellent upwind hucks, and consist and strong pulls.
#22 (Lopez) stood out for her patience as a handle, as well as her excellent strike cuts. Her handle movement was excellent, as well as her communication with both her cutters and her handles. Her fakes were also so good!! I definitely remember jumping for many of them, and yelling up at least once.
From John Brown:
#19 (Tumilty) commanded the field for John Brown. She had strong throws, was an excellent, smart defender, and made good decisions on the field.
#21 (Patterson) was so speedy and caught everything. She found many holes in our zones, and once they broke through, she was willing to put it downfield without fear.
#13 (Rudisill) was everywhere. She was able to find all the holes in our zones and snag anything. She had great catches, great throws, and moved the disc in a give and go that consistently broke our zones.
From TSU:
#0 (Wiggins): Wiggy is a player that you want against an upwind zone. She is good at finding holes, has no problem throwing breaks, and is very speedy. She’s also an excellent monster- I trust her 100% to make the right decision, whether it is coming down with the disc or backing off.
#5 (Thomas): Lexie is our most consistent handle. She’s unselfish, always open for the reset, and her throws upfield are always a smart decision. She makes smart decisions with the disc, has strong hucks either flick or backhand, and plays smart defense.
#25 (Tiller): Jess is so big, and sometimes tall strong players rely heavily on their size to make plays. Jess is not this player. She works incredibly hard and comes down with the disc because she contests for it in the air, not because she expects to get it. She is a consistent cutter, and makes smart decisions on whether to throw a continuation or get it back to her handles. She is also an excellent defender, whether monstering in a zone or just playing man.
#13 (Finley) throws so many breaks? cuts so well? catches hucks? gets open all the time? gets 1,000,000 run through d’s? Anyways, Sarah Finley is a consistent, fast, intelligent cutter and handle. She is trusted by every member of the team to both throw the right throw, or bring down any terrible throw you put in the air.
I agree with everything said above but I’d like to make one addition:
#57 Emily Tucker! Tuck has some dime throws and makes smart decisions with the disc. She makes one heck of a 1 in the cup and has a killer mark. She is very knowledgeable of the rules and is spirited in her calls because she thinks about them critically. She’s also not afraid to layout which is something I wish I had more of.
Ooooh. Also, All Region-Freshman shout outs!
*disclaimer: I can only talk about TSUnami because I honestly cannot tell who is a rookie on other teams
#4 (Sullivan): She’s sooo fast. She adjusts well in our cutting pattern. She has a solid mark and never gives up on the disc.
#22 (Fulte): She’s very good at getting open. She has trusted hands. Her defense is solid and we have looked to her to take on tough match-ups.
The talent pool at regionals was really amazing to see. There were definitely a lot players that gave Air Force a hard time, both with their athleticism and ultimate IQ… I’m realllly bad with names but these are the people who stuck out to me last weekend:
JBU
#19 Emily Tumilty - This girl can throw. Her hucks were great, her resets were great, and overall she just has a really good field sense. She also definitely lost me more than a few times with her fakes and speed.
#13 Rudisill – She caught everything that was thrown even remotely her way. This girl was defying gravity, somersaulting into the endzone, and laying out all over the place. It was so cool to see I didn’t even care that we were getting scored on…
Truman State
#13 This girl is so fast holy heck. Her cuts were sharp and she always attacked the disc.
Rice
#22 Rebecca Lopez - We played two games in a row against Rice and I was marking Rebecca for a lot of the time during both of those. She has excellent throws and probably the best handler cuts I marked all weekend, breaking me multiple times with her fakes. On defense she’s tough and smart, which was incredibly difficult to work against.
#3 Sam Paulsen – Sam has both tremendous speed and excellent throws. She’s a very hardworking player and is tough to play against on both offense and defense. One of my picks for the Donovan.
Air Force
I wish I could talk about everyone, but there’s not nearly enough space for that and I have finals to study for… This team has come so far and shown serious grit over the past year. We usually have, at most, 12 players per game–some of whom are injured.
#15 Maya Slavin - Maya has put in so much work over the season, throwing outside of practice, lifting, and learning about ultimate on her own time. With her basketball background, she has great defensive skill and a hard mark. She can read the field well and is one of our primary handlers. She probably has just as many assists as she has scores (a lot.) I’m really excited to see how she improves over the next two years.
#7 Alina Hake Vanecek - Alina has got legs for days!!! She consistently outruns defenders, and with her height, easily skies opponents. Probably my favorite person to huck to. Alina is another Kiwi member who has dedicated a lot of time outside of practice to playing ultimate, and it really shows!
#6 Alestra Lask - Alestra epitomizes a Kiwi bird. She’s fast, aggressive, and not afraid of bidding for any disc thrown her way. Her strength is defense, but she’s also one of my favorite people to throw deep to. She can outfake, outrun, and outbid people twice her size and I love it.
#12 Mary Hood - Mary is by far our best defender. She makes life difficult for any opponent that tries go against her. Unfortunately she got a concussion at DIII Midwesterns, so she wasn’t able to compete at Regionals, but she’s a player to look out for next year.
#18 Jamie Kirkland - Jamie is our Donovan nominee. So fast. Such flicks. Crazy hucks. Sharp cuts. Jamie amazes me more and more every game and is one of our most confident handlers. Her past experience as a soccer goalkeeper gives her the skill to lay out efficiently and create space on the field.