Hellfish Bonanza Tournament Report

On Saturday and Sunday February 21st & 22nd, we went up to JMU for the annual Hellfish Bonanza. Last year we went 2 and 4, so we were just hoping to improve from last year. We started Saturday with bracket play and had our first game against the top seed in our bracket, Ohio State. We went in with low expectations, but ended up winning 13-5. From there we played Georgetown, who was also seeded above us, and won 12-6. Our next two games went just as well- we beat Mary Washington and Vermont. We won our bracket and ended the day 4-0. We came back Sunday and played Ohio State again in the first round, and beat them by an even larger margin than before. In the semi-finals we played Richmond, and beat them as well. The finals was against UVA, who we have not won against in at least 4 years. We beat them 15-2, winning our first tournament in at least 6 years. The score total for the weekend was W&M 96, everyone else 26.

This was obviously a very exciting weekend for all of us, but here are the highlights: - Our zone defense shut down every team we encountered. This could not have been done without the awesome defensive skills of the middle middles- Christy, Caitlin Horan, and Jess Dupont and the core "wall" players- Emily Schwartz, Grace Hwang, Josie Rau, Alison Smith, Audrey Siple, Austin B, and Jamie Barr - Our zone offense, which has traditionally been weak, beat every other teams zone defenses, despite the blustery winds. - Josie Rau had the tournament of her life! - Audrey Siple and Emily Schwartz dominated the popping positions in the zone offense. -Christy Johnson carried the team with her excellent handling skills. - We put on a full newbie line against Richmond, and they scored! - Freshman Sarah Sanford layed out to score one of the points during the UVA game. - Beating UVA: The final point was scored by a hammer throw from Christy Johnson to Audrey Siple across the endzone in the wind. - The prize for winning the tournament was a giant transformers pinata.