2011 Preview – UT Arlington Yetti

[stextbox id=”alert” color=”050505″ bcolor=”6cc3f8″ bgcolor=”ffffff” big=”true” image=”null”]School Name:  University of Texas in Arlington
Team Name:  Yetti Ultimate
Captains: Karen Sanders, Monalisa Aguilar, Michelle Siedel
Coach: Holly Amerson
Year Founded: 2007
Jersey Colors: Blue
Score Reporter
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Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get involved with ultimate at your school?

Karen Sanders: I am a senior and nursing major.  I joined Ultimate a year ago because I enjoy playing sports and I found the UTA team to be very welcoming and take time to teach me a new sport.  I had never played before, but went to a few tournaments and have enjoyed it ever since.

Monalisa Aguilar: I am a junior majoring in nursing.  I started playing Ultimate a year ago.  I wanted to try something new so I close Ultimate and after my first tournament, I fell in love.

How did your team do last year? What was the highlight of your season?

Karen: Regionals was the highlight of our season because it was our first time attending.  The team had really grown by this time and I knew I could fake and by the time I cut back, the handler would have already thrown it right there.  During one of our games, we were able to hold a team ranked much higher than us point for point.

Who is your favorite team to play against? Tell us about a memorable game.

Karen: Texas State University.  Playing Texas State at Regionals was a great game because we had played multiple times throughout the season, so each team had to up their intensity and strategy.

Monalisa: UNT.  We are about the same skill level so playing against UNT is always fun and competitive.  A memorable game would be during Sectionals when we had the longest points.  Each team fought hard to defend the other.

Tell us about your coach and captains. What do they bring to your team?

Karen: Holly brings the skills and knowledge that the team lacks and is always innovating new drills to work on.  The captains bring dedication to the game and work together.  Each one of us excels at a different part of the game and are willing to listen to each other.

What player is most likely to make a huge play as a thrower? As a receiver? On D?

Karen: Thrower: Erica Hinojosa
Receiver:  Ashley Pena
Defense: Sammy Zonana

It’s easy to see when someone throws a huge huck or gets a layout D. Who’s a player you have to watch more carefully to see how valuable she is to your team?

Karen: Monalisa Aguilar is one of our smallest players, but don’t let this fool you.  She is consistent all around, whether it be holding the force, making a continuation, or burning her defender to go deep.

How does your team bring new players up to speed?

Holly: Seeing as a majority of our team is new, we begun with a rigorous teaching of the basics: throwing, catching, running, reading, defense, hucking, and so on. Then we throw our players into game like situations and teach them the sport. We have found that our new players have a quicker learning curve when they learn as they go. We attempt to arrange as many scrimmages as possible and encourage all of our girls to play at least one game of pick up a week. We expect lots of questions, and work one-on-one with each of our players targeting their weakest areas.

What does your team like to do on offense and on defense?

Holly: Since we are a young team, our goals this fall are to excel at playing man defense and run the typical vertical stack. In the spring, we are hoping to broaden the team’s offensive and defensive strategies and run more zone and implement a Euro offense.

Has your team set any goals for this season? What are they?

Holly: Our number one goal is for every player on our team to be a solid defensive and offensive player. Our goal is for each woman on our team to know how to handle, play mid, as well as the deep position.

What has your team been doing this fall to prepare for the spring season?

Holly: We have been scrimmaging other teams in our section to learn there strategy so that we are better prepared to compete against them in UPA sanctioned tournaments.

What tournaments do you plan to attend in the spring? Which one are you most looking forward to?

Big D Little D in Denton, TX
Mardi Gras in Baton Rouge, LA
Battle for the Chastity Belt in Little Rock, AR
Centex III in Austin, TX
High Tide in ,GA
Sectionals
Regionals

Holly: We are looking forward to High Tide the most. A spring break tournament in which we get to spend an entire week playing Ultimate and hanging out with some of our favorite people!

What does your team do to get pumped up for a big game?

Holly: The best way to pump up Yetti is ridiculous cheers and team bonding games along with a heart felt speech from our fearless captains.

Karen: Before each game, the captains choose fabric and the team makes skirts to play in.

What song would you pick for the soundtrack to your team’s 2011 highlight video?

Party in the USA by Miley Cirus
I’m on a Boat by Lonely Island featuring T-Pain