Women’s Centex 2011 Preview

by | March 26, 2011, 4:02am 0

Women’s College Centex
50 Women’s Teams
March 26-27, 2011
Austin, TX
Score Reporter

Person 1:  A thousand teams of the Women’s Ultimate empire descend upon you!  Our discs will blot out the sun!

Person 2:  Then we will play in the shade…

This weekend in Austin, Texas, Women’s Centex will prove to be one of the biggest tournaments of the year, period.  With 50 Women’s teams, including DI, DII, and DIII teams, this eclipses Open Centex in sheer number and competitiveness.

The best teams in Women’s Ultimate, including ALL of Skyd Magazine’s 15 top-ranked teams, will meet in Austin.  21 of the top 25 top ranked teams by the UPA will be playing in the DI/DII pools.  Joining them will be 20 DIII and DIV teams.

Along with a massive pool of teams, there is some great programming going on.  Friday evening there will be a Women’s Leadership Forum with a panel of coaches and captains in Women’s Ultimate will discuss their team’s developments and other aspects of the game.  There will also be a Throwing Mixer for socializing and playing games. Also, Centex will be hosting a Guest Coaching Program with experienced club players from Texas teams to help with developing skills and team strategy over the weekend with several younger or less experienced teams.  Gust coaches include Mike Natenberg (Doublewide captain and former Tuff captain), and Cara Crouch (Showdown player and 2005 Callahan winner).

Aside from being possibly the biggest and best women’s college tournament of the year, Centex is also proving to be one of the Ultimate’s most impressive collaborations of community.  This weekend will display competitive play from the most talented teams and provide support and feedback for many developing teams in the country.

Saturday Games to Watch

UC-Santa Barbara vs. Cal

UCSB is hot right now after winning the Stanford Invite and handing Oregon its first loss.  They beat Cal 11-7 at the Santa Barbara invite at the beginning of the season.  When they met President’s Day, Cal got revenge, winning 13-9.  On Saturday, we’ll see who claims the lead on the series as these two top-5 ranked teams go at it.

Oregon vs. North Carolina

North Carolina definitely got street cred with a win over Santa Barbara at President’s Day.  They are hoping to improve on their 3rd place finish at Easterns this weekend.  Oregon hasn’t faced North Carolina yet this year.  Can North Carolina surprise this team?  It’s tough to argue against Fugue, who has outscored its opponents this season 206-126.  That’s an average of 5 points more than their opponent each game.

Iowa vs. Washington

Iowa enters this tournament still undefeated after winning both Midwest Throwdown and Easterns.  In their first game on Saturday, they’ll meet a Washington team that has lost to only UCSB, Oregon, and Stanford (all ranked in the top 5 on Skyd)  It will be a tough start for an important weekend for Iowa, who would clinch a #1 ranking if they can win out on Sunday.

Saturday’s play should be heated, and not just because of the 93 degree weather forecast.  If teams still have energy for the dance-off Saturday night, it will show some true grit.

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