Milwaukee, WI

By Shelly Shankya

The hotly contested, fast-paced match-up for third and fourth places at the 2013 WFTDA Championships started with the favor in B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls’ corner, as they scored 39 points off of two power jams from the Denver Roller Dolls’ Mile High Club, one from Julie Adams’ back block, the other from Amanda Sharpless’ forearm. After each team lost heartbreakers in the semifinal games, the two came out thirsty for a win and a third place medal.

The B.A.D. Girls took the momentum to spread points early, 43-4, but were put in a holding pattern as Denver held them scoreless for three jams. Urrk’n Martin scored the first substantial points for the Mile High Club, as she nabbed 27 points while Bricktator got stuck in the Denver pack. When the outside pack ref called jammer Urrk’n out for a track cut, the Denver jam ref waved the call off; B.A.D. called for their official review, but the non-call stood and Urrk’n scored five points. The bad news for B.ay A.rea parlayed into good news in the following five jams as the Denver blockers Shaina Serelson, Ariel Quigley, Krisana Barrett and Jessica Rivas rotated in and out of the penalty box, making the 4-1 pack advantage a boon for the women in black and gold. B.A.D. worked systematically to score four and call in the several jams following the non-call review.

Jammers Nock Nock and Urrk’n did a quick switch-out after Nock got a blocking out of bounds penalty, but the penalty was negated by Urrk’n’s skating out of bounds and insubordination penalties in the following jam. Urrk’n put her skate down in the infield after she skated away from the pack having secured lead jammer; her balance correction cost her two minutes and her team’s official review in the first period. The call stood, however, during which time B.A.D. blockers Amanda Jamitinya, Belle Right Hooks, Big Mackie, and captain Brawllen Angel cleared a way for their jammers to score 18 points.

“We practice, we focus on staying calm, both on and off our skates,” B.A.D. co-captain and jammer Chantilly Mace said. “We know that when we stay on the floor we’re most successful. In fact, we practice strategies to maintain our focus when we get in tough situations.”

Jams 17-25 were largely a wash as both teams went scoreless in strategic fashion to keep fast-skating jammers from getting points; B.A.D. went scoreless six times, while Denver was scoreless seven jams. Jammer Nock Nock enjoyed some jammer-on-jammer action during the second-to-last jam of the period, as she slowed Urrk’n down in an effort to have the pack recycle the Denver jammer, but Mile High’s captain and pivot Ariel Quigley was quick on her heels to force Nock Nock to release her pressure on Urrk’n. The half ended with a 52-point differential, 125 for B.ay A.rea and 73 for Denver.

Post halftime play saw B.ay A.rea up by as much as 80 points over Denver Roller Dolls, as well as a number of jammer do-si-do’s that ultimately worked in B.A.D.’s favor, coming out with 21 points to Denver’s 20 points. In fact, the second half was comparatively jammer penalty heavy, Denver jammers with six and Bay Area with four. Many of the penalties were forced by deft defensive work from the blocking work on both teams. The first of the jammer swaps was an exchange between Urrk’n, as she was forced on a track cut by former Rocky Mountain Rollergirls teammate Amanda Jamitinya. Lulu Lockjaw went to the box only seconds later on a cut track forced by Deirdre Sage.

Two jams later, Adams managed to get lead jammer by exploiting a 4-3 pack advantage for Denver but then got a back block in a pile up initiated by B.A.D. blocker Dolly Rocket. The jammers switched places, one for the track, the other for the chair as Nock Nock accrued a back block in seconds after Adams sat. Despite the momentary jammer swaps, the score showed only minimal change, with B.A.D. staying decisively in the lead, 209-138.

With 3:06 left in the bout, B.ay A.rea called for an official review on their jammer Bricktator’s cut track penalty. The call stood, and Denver took the track with a small but decisive pack advantage. The final jams of the game were a revolving door of blockers to the box for both teams. Denver called a timeout with 16 seconds left in an attempt to bridge the gap, 224-165. n the final jam, an error in ref communication led to Bay Area's Lulu Lockjaw being awarded lead and immediately calling the jam, even though Denver's Tracy Akers already had lead jammer status. Following an official review, the head referee declared the game to be over, as the period clock had expired. The scoreboard read 224-174 and the B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls clutched the much-coveted third place, bronze medals.

“We came into this tournament with a mindset, a goal to make it into a game on Sunday,” Mace said. “When we drew Gotham on our Saturday bracket, we knew it’d be tough, but we played to win the Hydra. The game was a great game, and so was this one. We’re proud of where we ended up.”

Final Score

Denver Roller Dolls (Fort Wayne #1) 174
B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls (Salem #1) 224 3rd Place