Evansville, IN

by Shelly Shankya

In Game 1, the first game of day 1 at the international WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Evansville, Indiana, the Nashville Rollergirls (seed 8, rank #31) of Nashville, Tennessee, USA, used powerful jams in the final minutes of the game to defeat Houston Roller Derby (seed 9, rank #36) of Houston, Texas, USA in a repeat match from last year’s Division 1 Playoffs, 181-126.

Photo by Donna Olmstead

Both teams fielded a consistent three-jammer rotation in the opening minutes of Friday’s game, and Nashville took the early advantage. Jammers Big Banger, Chelsea Dagger, and Four-Leaf Roller took the lead to 16-5 over Houston jammers Freight Train, Brandi Brown, and Death By Chocolate. After a cut track by Banger, however, Houston took a quick lead 32-18 over Nashville, as blockers Kelly Killpowski and Mistilla helped jammer Brown score 17 points. After Houston’s break-away, Nashville fielded jammer Dani Doom for the first time, and her efforts, coupled with a 14-point jam by Four-Leaf Roller put Nashville in the lead over the Houston Roller Derby, a lead that the ladies from Music City maintained throughout the first half.

By the end of the first, Houston’s blocker Mistilla managed to rack up six penalties, while no other jammers or blockers had more than three. The teams finished the half, sharing 13 scoreless jams each, with Nashville edging out Houston on lead jammer status, 17 lead jammers to Houston’s 10. Skaters went into the halftime Nashville Rollergirls holding onto a 5-point lead, 73-68.

Coming into the second half, Houston used some early surges, notably a 10-point jam by Freight Train to create momentum shift for the ladies in white and pink. With 20:00 left in the second half, Houston mounted a solid offense to ultimately pull away by 12 points, 116-104, after Union Jack-U-Up received two penalties in a row. The 12-point rally came up short, however, as Nashville came back with 50 unanswered points with just under 10:00 remaining.

Ultimately, Nashville rode the momentum wave into the final moments of the game, as Houston jammer Freight Train went to the penalty box four times during the last eight jams of the game. Despite a jammer swap-out in the final jam of the game, Dagger managed a 19-point run to finish the game for Nashville. The skaters from Music City defeated Houston 181-126.

Nashville Rollergirls (seed 8, #31) moves on to play London Rollergirls (seed 1, #3) in Game 4 at 4:00 pm later on Friday.

Houston Roller Derby (seed 9, #36) moves to the consolation bracket to play the loser of Game 3 on Saturday at noon.

Final Score

(8) Nashville Rollergirls 181
(9) Houston Roller Derby 126