Spring Season recap!

Hello Durga and fans alike!
Holy cow, my apologies for not updating this since the fall. I meant to after Durga went to TROUBLE IN VEGAS but kept putting it off. My what a spring season we had! It included the wonderful return of Captain Ann Raiho, Emma Hill, Meg Shoemaker, and many additions! We had so many new people that we were able to create a B team: our beloved Shanti!
So to recap some tournaments...
As many of you are aware by now, TiV10 was rained out on the 3rd day. We were able to get in 4 games out of the promised 9. It was a bummer because our team was looking GOOD and ready to take on some sick teams that were coming up. Vegas was still an event that will not be forgotten. Some highlights include searching what felt like all over the strip in order to find a functioning swimming pool... to no avail, and then heading back to the room to hang out in the tub there. Long car rides... but nice scenery. We also had to drive through some crazy weather.

After TiV, Shanti played in their first indoor tournament at St Ben's and won a few games! It was pretty exciting and I am glad to have experienced it.

Then, cha-ching! SPRING BREAK 2010!! We got a house in/near Gatlinburg, TN on a mountain and it was really incredible. Zerks, SOB, Durga, and Shanti all in one house together :). Spring weather was not boding well for tournaments this season, and Roll Call, the tournament Durga was going to go to in DC, was postponed due to rain. We managed to find a tournament that had some space for us in Alabama! We went to Mudbowl and had a pretty good showing but it was clear we were still trying to figure out how to play outside in ridiculous wind again.

After SB10, Durga and Shanti went to Sectionals! Durga took 2nd place after Carleton's Syzygy which rocked, and Shanti tied for 11th place with Carleton's C team.

Regionals proved a little bit harder for Durga than the past two years (5th place each year). We took 9th. Some might blame it on switched brackets right at the last minute that moved us down in the original seeding........ but we could've played better.

Nationals was in Madison, WI this year and it was a blast seeing teams of that calibur playing! Oregon vs UCSB in the finals was really awesome.

Overall, it was another growing year, with each player learning even more how to play with one another as a team. As far as unity goes, I could not ask for a closer team than the one we became this year. I love you guys very much and our 9 graduated seniors will be very missed on and off the field!

I'm really excited for next year to see what our teams are going to be able to do! Next year's captains are: Seniors Ann Raiho and Brittany Faust (me), and Junior Erin Curme.

Congratulations Captains Erin Shishilla, Katherine Zimmermann, and Andrea Henkel, as well as Meg Shoemaker, Meg Hennessey, Stephanie Tanner, Monica Le, Liz Moen, and Lisa Erlandson for graduating and good luck to you all!

-BFaust

Ninjas in a half-shell!
Hallowinona 15 was hosted this weekend by Winona State University and Durga went as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. On Saturday we had 21 girls there so we split into three lines, X Y and Z. Each line got to work together and work on what needed to get done.
Saturday was incredibly windy. Also the brackets were all messed up and we only played 3 games on Saturday because a team dropped out.

Durga vs. Winona
Traded points the entire game. We got a couple upwinds, but I think they might've gotten one too. There were a lot of drops and a lot of turns from both sides. Both teams worked hard but Durga got the better of the Beer Sluts and beat them 13-12 on universe point. We received down-wind for the score.

Durga vs. Gustavus
We were warmed up and ready to play after that Winona game. The lines were working better together, and we traded points at first, somewhere around 4-4. Then we broke away and beat Gustavus 13-5 or something like that.

Durga vs. St Thomas
Hard-fought game against St Thomas. Good throws on both teams, good plays. Still very windy. Lines were definitely more cohesive in this game. Anyone got anything to add?
We won.

Saturday night was fun, the hotel was full of people dressed up in crazier costumes than they played in. ........."I'm fucking Princess Leia, bitch!"


Sunday
Even though we won all of our games the day before, the TDs just weren't giving Durga a break and didn't give us a first-round bye. Durga changed up the lines on Sunday with a few people missing and split up 6 handlers into groups of 3 and had 7 cutters for each line. Lines: Apples and Cheesecurds. We played Carleton first.

Durga vs. Carleton
I'm not sure if this was entirely their B team or if they were still doing tryouts, but they showed up late, Durga was very warmed up. We played really well and beat them 13-1. Our D was on as well as our offense.

Durga vs. Winona again
We played better against this team on Sunday once we knew how to work match-ups and work with our lines. We rocked it, I would say. I don't remember the score though. We won.

Durga vs. Marquette
Championship game! Durga tried really hard, came out strong, but their handlers were fast and they took advantage of poaches. Final score might've been something like 7-13.

But hey, we took second at Hallowinona! Hell yeah.

-Brittany Faust #18 Junior

Halloooooowinona preview

Hello Durgaland, this weekend is halloween, but more importantly, it's Hallowinona! It's a mixed, open, and women's tournament hosted by Winona State. Each team dresses up, usually themed, and plays in costumes. We were lumberjacks last year, and boy did we look great when we took first :).

This year, the roster going is:

Eliza McDermott
Erin "Shish" Shishilla
Brittany "BFaust (Fausty? What is this?)" Faust
Natalie "DT" Warren (It's sticking, I'm sorry. Until another one comes along... Dusty Trap it is)
Lisa Erlandson
Liz "Lix" Moen
Erin "Shaquille" O'Neill
Rachel "Swiffer" Takazawa
Stephanie "Tanner" Tanner
Taylor "Tee" Bridges
Erin "Kirmy" Curme
Maddie Ranum
Sarah Scott
Laura van Leuven
Bri Sennott
Monica Le
Andrea Henkel
Sarah "Turtle" Mitchell
Leah "Princess Leia" Svingen
Lexi Gurtchef
Sheila Novak
Katherine Zimmermann

I really hope I'm not missing anyone. As you can see, our roster is packed with awesome women.
Our collection of nicknames is building. I'm resisting the urge to just make one for every person right now, but the made-up ones would just detract from the real-and-awesome ones.

This is our last tournament of the fall season, which means a few things.
1. Seniors... I love you
2. We need to play hard and kick ass

Granted, this is a really, really fun tournament with lots of awesome teams going, but let's do well.

The teams in our pool are:
Winona (Monaz)
St Thomas
Gustavus
UW-Whitewater

The brackets aren't up yet, though.

Should make for a great Saturday. The weather is quoted as looking "Decent. High 40s I believe. Yup, Saturday and Sunday." So it's lookin goooood.

Practice today looked really good too. Better flow, better throws.
Oh, and Friday night at Olaf there is a Larson Hall Halloween party that Durga and the Zerks are attending and it's going to be a blast. Halloween is the best.

HOLY BALLS THIS IS THE BEST EVER!
UPA College Championships (Nationals) is being held in MADISON, WI May 28-31st, 2010! This means that we will be able to go and watch the best college ultimate in the country very conveniently. IN MADISON. Last year they were hosted in Ohio and the year before in Colorado and during finals week, to put it into perspective. The main part of the games will be at Reddan Soccer Complex which has GREAT fields, and then the finals will be at Breese Stevens Stadium/Field which is where my high school (East High) plays their varsity soccer games, also an amazing field, and a really cool, old stadium. It's also within driving/biking distance from my place if you need a place to stay. And it's hosted by Madison Ultimate Frisbee Association (MUFA). And the TD is Kate Arnold. So great. So great.
DURGA LET'S GO!

Unrelated to ultimate, but still great.

Hello Durgaworld,
Overseas-Emma shared with me and Natalie a song that is really great.



Check that shit out. Dance.

Since I posted the team picture in which Tanner and DT were cut out, here they are:

Tanner











Emma and Natalie



















And I must make a correction: Rachel's nickname is SWIFFER because she's so freaking great at picking up discs that weren't originally thrown to her in the endzone. It's a beautiful thing, and swiffer sweepers are so helpful.

No Wisconsequences

Durgadurgadurga. As most (probably all) of you know, last weekend was No Wisconsequences, hosted by UW-Madison in Delafield, WI. It was a huuuuge tournament with many great teams... and power pools. In any case, as stated in the previous post, we were placed in Pool F with Chicago, Valparaiso, and UW-Lacrosse/Lawrence. Without further ado, let's take a look at how the games panned out on Saturday.

Durga vs. Chicago
First game of Saturday, Durga came out pumped up and ready to play. We knew we were facing tough competition from Chicago. Unfortunately, we weren't connecting on many throws, and had enough turns to get them the lead and win 11-8. We had some good points and worked the disc well sometimes, but we definitely played down and weren't able to bring it back in time for hard cap. There is one point that I remember mainly because I actually wrote it down after it happened, but there was a textbook play made for a score: Handler swing from me to Erin Curme to Katherine in the endzone in the other corner. Sounds familiar... maybe like a drill we do all the time at practice... At any rate, I was pleased.

Durga vs. UW-La Crosse/Lawrence
This game we were determined to win. La Crosse/Lawrence was a fun team to play but it was hard to keep our level of play up once again. I remember there were also some great plays in this game, especially with some garbage throws (I can say that because some were from me) picked up by some ambitious and amazing freshmen (I'd like to thank Charlotte in particular for picking up one of mine). The game was close at first, with the other team ahead by one point, might've been at 4-3. We picked up our game though and got our flow in motion. We took half at 7-4 and never looked back, winning the game 13-5.

Durga vs. Valparaiso
This was another close game. 3rd game of the day, we were beyond warmed up. They threw a zone on us right away and kept it up throughout the game, making our handlers work for the swing. There were a couple hucks over their cup, but their defense overpowered us and they won the game 9-5.

Durga vs. Grinnell
Okay, so we knew we had to pick up our game again because we wanted this win. We warmed up again after a 4th round bye and were ready to play. It was obvious that our flow was getting better and we were working together; our offense and defense looked great. This was a hard-fought game on both sides with the final score 12-10, us.

****If anyone has anymore details they'd like to share about these games, perhaps some kudos, props, etc to certain team members, please comment!

A lot of Durga attended the tournament party at which they gave out Patagonia gear in a raffle but the guy who was giving stuff out got really pissed off because some people stole some hats that were going to be raffled off. Then, he got even more pissed off when he realized someone stole his personal hat. This party was worse than last year because there wasn't a moonbounce and the people over 21 were blocked off in the beergarden. Oh well. St Olaf Zerks got free white jerseys which is great for them.


SUNDAY

Sunday morning we had a first round bye, on top of a 45 minute frost delay. Our first game was at 10:45 against Illinois State.

Durga vs. Illinois State
We were well warmed-up for this game and came out strong. Everyone's spirits were high, Curme was happy the other team knew the rules, Shish was just excited for everything and everyone all the time, and the other team was very complimentary and friendly. Our flow was really good and everyone was playing incredibly well. We won 13-5.

Durga vs. Winona
Winona forfeited to us, giving us a 3rd round bye. Win?
(During this "bye", Platteville's team Udderburn was kicking ass and beat Carleton's Gods of Plastic (GOP) 12-6. It was a great game)

Durga vs. Illinois State.... again.
So we played this team again, but only played up to 7. I'm fairly certain the end score was 7-1 or 7-2. Good plays once again. They're a fun team to play.


So to recap Sunday: Really great games played against the same team, and a forfeited game. Kind of unfulfilling but it was good for us. We still played hard D and always strived for possession of the disc.

I'm really impressed at how quickly the new members of Durga were able to adapt to the level of play and figure out what they needed to do. I personally feel like we accomplished a lot at this tournament and can't wait to see what we can do at HALLOWINONA!

-Written by Brittany Faust #18, Junior