Evansville, IN

Texas stomps Jacksonville, stamps ticket to Champs

by Shelly Shankya

Despite drawing first blood, the Jacksonville Rollergirls (seed 4, rank #14) of Jacksonville, Florida, USA, eventually fell to the Texas Rollergirls (seed 2, rank #6) of Austin, Texas, USA. in the hotly contested third/fourth place game of Day 3 at the international WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Evansville, Indiana. Big point runs and extended jams played in Texas’ favor, as they defeated Jacksonville 335-221.

Photo by Danforth Johnson

Seasoned jammer Erin Jackson pulled down the first points for Jacksonville’s New Jax, scoring 5-0 against Texas. And the first several jams saw the point spread with fewer than 13 points between these two teams. The tenth jam of the game was the turning point for Texas, however, as long-time Texecutioner Olivia Shootin’ John squeezed 28 points out the skaters from sunny Florida. With under 17 minutes of play remaining in the first period, Jacksonville tried to put a damper on Texas’ run, but to no avail.

Jammers Sarah Hipel, Smarty Pants, and Olivia Shootin’ John put up 75 points in three consecutive jams to Jacksonville’s 22 points in those three jams. At that point, Texas put the point spread at 80 points, deflating the hopes of New Jax. Going into the half, Jacksonville had narrowed the gap to 48 points, 152-104 in Texas’ favor.

In the second half, Texas continued to rely on its endurance, and jammers continued to rely on their strong defense to hold Jacksonville jammers Jackson, as well as Jamsterella, back. Blockers for Jacksonville, Meow Mix, Kat Von, and Eirinn Go Brawl made the point accrual difficult for Texas, however, by working in tight rotation to force cuts, back blocks, and forearms on Texas jammers. Texas worked on a consistent jammer rotation, going between Hauss the Boss, Smarty Pants, and Sarah Hipel for the majority of the half. A notable change in the rotation came when blocker-cum-jammer Polly Gone pulled off lead jammer status and 22 points.

Not wanting to make the game a blowout, Jacksonville continued to fight throughout the rest of the half, keeping the point spread around 90 points, while at the same time scoring more points against Texas than any other team at the weekend’s tournament or any team this year. In the final jam of the game, in fact, a star pass from jammer Jamsterella to pivot Erin Jackson resulted in a 17-point gain. The final push wasn’t enough, though, as Texas Tex-ecuted a textbook win over New Jax, winning 335-221.

“We attempted a total reset last night,” Texas veteran Bloody Mary said. Bloody Mary, who is out on a knee injury, was notably absent from the weekend’s play. “We decided to leave yesterday behind. It wasn’t a memory we wanted to keep. We worked to tighten up our defense, and we’re glad we had the opportunity to practice against some of the best jammers in the sport.”

Texas Rollergirls (seed 2, rank #6) continue to WFTDA Championships in Nashville after securing third place.

Jacksonville Rollergirls (seed 4, rank #14) maintain their seed after falling to Texas, and stay in fourth.