Sacramento, CA

DENVER ROLLER DOLLS DOMINATE SANTA CRUZ DERBY GIRLS

By Jezebelle Z. Bub

In the third game of the international 2014 WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs in Sacramento, Denver Roller Dolls (3 seed, rank #9) from Denver, Colorado took on the Santa Cruz Derby Girls (6 seed, rank #25) from Santa Cruz, California. Despite strong defensive walls from Santa Cruz, there was no holding Denver back. Denver came out on top with a solid margin of victory, 260-48.

Early in the game, Denver took control of the scoreboard gaining lead status for the first five jams in a row. A penalty from Denver jammer Dezellem left Santa Cruz jammer Ace Wenchura a chance to put some points on the board, 11-5.

The stands chanted for Santa Cruz jammer “Luna”— and she listened, ripping through the pack to take lead and attempting to close the point gap, 11-10.

But the lead went back to Denver when their jammer glided through the wall the first time, only to be stalled by Santa Cruz blocker Shamrock N. Roller and stalled again on her next lap by Beans.

Santa Cruz jammer Taraism faltered to a strong back wall by Denver and passes the helmet cover to Envy Atoms at the front of the pack, but not in time for Envy to dent the scoreboard: 25-10.

Denver jammer Dezellem landed in the penalty box, and left Santa Cruz Captain Queen Litigious to duel Denver’s blockers. Despite the help from her own blockers, Litigious can’t seem to puncture the pack. She contemplated a star pass to her pivot, but left the cover on and ruthlessly attacked the back of the pack to no avail. The jam time ran the full two minutes, with only two minutes left in the first half.

In the last few minutes of the first half, Denver's jammer, Urrk’n Martin, weaved and pushed, stumbling onto one leg and then launching herself through the pack. With Envy Atoms trailing her, Martin called off the jam at 114- 24.

Now with just 41 seconds on the clock, Williams has just enough time to power past the pack thrice, ending the first half with a 100-point lead: 124-24

"“We worked on the stuff we said we were going to work on,” said Denver Doll Akers. “When know that Santa Cruz is a bigger team and they came out hitting. It was still a lot to deal with. We stuck to playing our game.”

The second half started with Santa Cruz jammer Ace sent to the box, and Denver Captain Wilhelm earning lead status. But Wilhelm was held up by Santa Cruz blockers Shamrock N. Roller and Foxee Firestorm.

Santa Cruz jammer Luna, egged on again by the crowd, picked up a few more points for Santa Cruz,136-30.

With only nine minutes left in the game, jammer Urrk’n Martin fought through the blockers to take the lead for Denver. With Santa Cruz jammer Queen Litigious left in the box, Martin powered past blocker Envy Atoms. On Litigious’ return, she again passed the star to Envy who too failed an attempt to break past Denver’s wall.

In the next jam, Ace Wenchura battled the outside wall, then skipped over the apex and into the lead position, creeping the points onto the scoreboard for Santa Cruz one by one, 231- 46.

With less than one minute left in the bout, Denver started with the advantage of a power jam. The Santa Cruz jammer returned from the box and tried to pass the star to Luna but was stalled by the Denver stronghold. Finally the star pass is completed, and Luna chased Denver jammer Urrk’n Martin around the track, but not in time for Martin to call the last jam of the game off.

Denver came out ahead 260-48.

“As a league we feel really blessed to be here,” said Santa Cruz blocker, Shamrock N. Roller. “We were in D2 last year, but lost the division championship game by one point. And now we’re in a solid D1 spot. We moved from rank 41, and now we are ranked 25. I think that's a great jump for us.”

The Denver Roller Dolls advance to play Game #5 Champions Saturday at 8 p.m. while Santa Cruz will take on New Hampshire Roller Derby Saturday at noon.

FINAL SCORE

(3) Denver Roller Dolls 260

(6) Santa Cruz Derby Girls 48