Lansing, MI

By Whacks Poetic

Friday morning saw a battle of adaptation and resource usage between WFTDA playoff sophomores Charlottesville Derby Dames from Charlottesville, VA, USA and WFTDA playoff veterans Grand Raggidy All Stars from Grand Rapids, MI USA. While Grand Raggidy had home state advantage at the 2016 International WFTDA Division 2 Playoffs Lansing, Charlottesville would win the contest, 226-106.

Photo by Danforth Johnson

The game started with the two teams trading jams. With just over five minutes gone, the score stood 11-10. Charlottesville jammers, Machete and River Styx Phoenix, adapted to the punishing backwards blocking of skaters such as Garden Ho for Grand Raggidy. They found much greater success at the edges of the track where that put up multiple scoring passes to bring the Virginian team to a 44-11 lead. Grand Raggidy changed their blocking style and stymyed the Charlottesville jammers mid-first half, but smart clock management by Boom! ShakeTheRoom and Machete for Charlottesville saw the lead grow to 54-19 with fifteen minutes gone. Charlottesville would then continue to inch forward with Grand Raggidy jammers almost getting out but then recycled to the back of the pack on numerous initial passes. Two more multiple scoring pass jams by Machete and River Styx Phoenix left the score reading 121-29 at halftime.

The second half looked like it would be more successful for Grand Raggidy with Xtreme Tac taking lead, but Charlottesville had the Michigan jammer’s number and sent Xtreme Tac to the box multiple times over the next few jams, allowing Charlottesville to run up the score, 166-41. Charlottesville rested River Styx Phoenix for later tonight in the second half with Stonewallup taking the cover much more frequently along with six other Charlottesville skaters. Grand Raggidy also shared the jammer responsibilities across many more skaters in the second half with Ginga Ninja being one of the more successful jammers for the Michigan team. Ginga Ninja outscored the opponent in a jam for her team for the first time since fifteen minutes into the game and started a 23-0 run for Grand Raggidy. With fifteen minutes left in the game, Grand Raggidy had pulled back to a 100 pt margin, 166-65. Charlottesville continued their smart clock management when they were disadvantaged while Grand Raggidy didn’t capitalize on their advantages and hot skaters. Lucy Morals, a standout jammer for Grand Raggidy with 83% lead jam status only donned the star twice in the second half compared to four times in the first. While more successful in the second half, Grand Raggidy could not overcome the pack work and jammer depth of Charlottesville and lost the game, 226-106.

Charlottesville goes on to face the 2nd seed, Sac City Rollers at 6pm tonight. Grand Raggidy moves to the consolation bracket and faces either the Cincinnati Black Sheep or the Calgary All Stars tomorrow at noon.

FINAL SCORE

Charlottesville Derby Dames (#7) 226
Grand Raggidy Roller Derby (#10) 106