Nashville, TN

By Lexistential Crisis

The #3 and #6 teams in the WFTDA met for the first time today in the 3rd place game at International 2014 WFTDA Championships. The B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls defended their previous 3rd place finish as they defeated the London Rollergirls in a game full of slow, solid walls and well-planned offensive blocks.

Photo Joey Miller

Bay Area showed their strength from the start of the first half. They held London scoreless in the first two jams and quickly gained a 27-0 lead. Stefanie Mainey put London on the board with a quick two points in jam three and another four points in jam seven. By that time Bay Area had increased their score to 64 after London lost almost all their blockers to penalties and allowed Chantilly Mace to skater her way to 29 points.

London began to make adjustments with under 20 minutes left in the half, and they slowly added points in a strong attempt to catch up to Bay Area’s score. Rogue Runner and Kamikaze Kitten had back-to-back nine point jams about half-way through the first half to bring London’s point total to 30 against Bay Area’s 90.

A few jams later London’s jammer Rogue Runner started alone on the jammer line as Chantilly Mace was in the box. After being held by Juke Boxx, Kristen Lee, Lady Go-Go, and Kid Block Chantilly Mace was sent back to the box. Rogue Runner followed her there as she cut the track. Both jammers returned to the track and scored eight points bringing the score to 104-49 in favor of Bay Area.

Photo Ryan Quick

Two jams later London jammer Stefanie Mainey and Bay Area jammer Nock Nock also spent some time in the box after Nock Nock cut the track and they both received forearm penalties. This trend of both jammers receiving penalties in the same jam continued in the second half as well. Bay Area ended the half on a positive note when Huck Sinn and Bricktator picked up points to bring their total to 127 over London’s 70.

Bay Area began the second half by continuing to shut down London’s jammers while making holes in their defense. Both teams maintained the same jammer rotations throughout the whole half. Chantilly Mace, Huck Sinn, Nock Nock, and Bricktator took turns pushing through London’s walls while Kamikaze Kitten, Stefanie Mainey, and Rogue Runner fought against the relentless Bay Area defense. Despite the score difference, London’s jammers had similar lead jammer percentages as Bay Area with 48.9% for London and 50% for Bay Area.

With under 16 minutes left in the game Bay Area was approaching the 200-point mark with 198 points over London’s 87. Both teams fought hard to continue scoring, and Bay Area was able to keep a similar point differential until the end. Well-time offensive moves from blockers allowed jammers to find ways through very tough, slow walls. Bay Area finished the game with 238 points and London increased their score to 148.

Photo Donna Olmstead

Chantilly Mace and Kamikaze Kitten were the highest scorers for their respective teams with 83 and 53 points. Bay Area finishes the weekend in 3rd place and London finishes in 4th.

Final Score

B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls (Salt Lake City Seed #1) 238
London Rollergirls (Evansville Seed #1) 148