NW, SW, and ME women's Regionals Previews

BY GUEST BLOGGER: Frankie Rho

Now that Sectionals are over, it's time to get giddy about the fight for the right to throwdown in Boulder. I'm going to start with the regions that I think are mostly likely to produce the eventual national champion.

NORTHWEST (Davis, CA)

As always, the depth in the region is very good with six (arguably seven) national caliber teams. Though the region has essentially been the House that Stanford Built, I would be surprised if the top three seeds (Washington, UBC and Oregon) don't qualify for Nationals. The biggest mistake for any of these teams would be to overlook Stanford, Western Washington, Cal and Pacific Lutheran.

Pool A

One of the great stories this season has to be Element's rise to the top while dealing with the loss of their captain Sarah Plants. Element will dominate their pool on their way to a potentially intriguing crossover game against Oregon. In the battle of 'Who's the Best ______ St.?', Humboldt St., Oregon St. and Sonoma St. will fight for the two spot. I'm putting my money on Humboldt, but Sonoma St. is a sleeper here; D'Vine features Brinn Langdale, an exciting young player to watch in the years to come.

Pool B

Despite falling to Washington twice at Sectionals, UBC has the feel of a team that knows their time is now. This being Kira Frew's senior year coupled with winning the inaugural NCUS title, the Thunderbirds will face a lot of pressure knowing that the Callahan and the South-of-the-Border-Nationals is tantalizingly within their grasp. PLU is a very interesting team on the rise and their rematch with UBC will be an interesting one. Having played UBC to a tight 8-10 loss at Sectionals, they will be going into the game with a lot of confidence. Their coach, Jaime 'Idaho' Arambula, is a brilliant motivator and may help the young Reign squad find an edge to pull off the upset.

Pool C

Oregon will have to contend with the revitalized Pie Queens squad. Not much has been written about Oregon and their emergence this year under coach Lou Burruss. Their top seven, which includes Molly Suver, Jessica Huynh, Shannon McDowell, Chris Norton and Julia Sherwood, is as strong as any in the women's game. They are more than capable of taking down Washington or UBC, and I think the likely Washington/Oregon crossover will be one of the more interesting games to watch this weekend. Berkeley started the season with solid results at Santa Barbara and Vegas but they've taken the Britney Spears ride to shame since then. Much of this has to do with Nat Wu's injury. With her back in action, she and Cree Howard give them a forceful combination that could lead to an upset.

Pool D

It goes without saying that the Spawn of Rasputin has the knowhow to take one of the spots. Amazingly, they have only missed the trip to Nationals once since 1995 (in 2000). Superfly has a lot of pride and their solid showing at DUI has them primed for a strong performance at Regionals. The key for them is whether their role players step up and perform at a high level to take the pressure off of Cassel, Barghelame, Founds and Damon. Western Washington features an aggressive game and the coaching wisdom of Ron Kubalanza. They simply lack the depth needed to take out the top three teams. I wouldn't be surprised if they have an impressive Saturday but fade late in bracket play.

Prediction: A lot of excitement but boring results -- Washington, UBC and Oregon in that order. Oregon beats Superfly in a tight game to go.

SOUTHWEST (Tucson, AZ)

Most agree that five teams are in the mix - UCLA, UCSB, Colorado, Arizona and USC. The weather has forecast warm temperatures this weekend (highs in the mid-90s), and depth will play a pivotal role in this weekend's outcome.

Pool A

The top spot out of the region is UCLA's to lose. Their big five - Taz, Gizmo, Cosmo, Kix, Fresh - gives them the confidence and swagger to compete with anybody. Their Achilles' heel appears to be playing to the level of their competition and their continuing problems with their nemesis, the Burning Skirts. At Sectionals, they played very sharply in the semifinals but lost some of their edge in the first half of the finals against Santa Barbara. They'll have a decent test against Arizona in pool play, but otherwise, they should be able to march into the title game with relative ease.

The big question for Arizona will be how much the lack of elite competition will hurt them. They recently traveled to DUI to play some of the elite teams and that decision may help them compensate for missing out on the Stanford Invite and Centex. Scorch has been a team that has been grossly overlooked all year (currently #20 on the RRI, #26 on the UPA), and have received essentially zero attention despite having a great deal of depth and a couple star players like Julia Tenen and Jodi McCloskey. They'll be going into this weekend with a big chip on their shoulder and will factor in as the weekend's biggest wildcard. Don't be surprised if they take away some of their male counterparts' thunder if Sunburn fizzles in San Diego.

Pool B

This pool has the potential to be the most exciting pool this weekend with UCSB, Colorado and USC duking it out. There could easily be a three way tie with point differential determining who faces UCLA in the finals. UCSB will definitely be the favorite, having beaten both Colorado and USC this season (2-0 vs. Colorado and 1-0 vs. USC - the margin was two points in all three games). The Burning Skirts played well at Sectionals despite being without Katie Barry (broken toe) and Andrea Romano (foot injury). Barry is almost a lock to play at Regionals, but Romano's presence remains a mystery. As a senior, she'll obviously do whatever it takes to play, but having been out all season may pose some chemistry problems in Tucson. Kaela Jorgensen is becoming a star, and along with fellow sophomore Carolyn Finney, they'll take the reigns next year and keep the Burning Skirts highly competitive.

Colorado has had an up and down season with their recent down being a disappointing performance at Centex. They'll have to be ready for the hot weather in Tucson. They certainly have the athletes and the talent to finish out the year in their backyard, but they'll have to find the mental edge they've been lacking all season. Kali split their previous matchups to USC, both of which were at the Stanford Invite.

USC has had a breakthrough season but lost Alice 'Swift/Balls' Chen, one of their captains and playmakers, to an ACL/meniscus tear in the game against UCSB. Her loss hurts the Hellions, but Anne Ohliger, Mary Kate Hogan, Lindsey Cross and their emerging young players will keep them in the hunt. Colorado St. could steal a spot into bracket play if any of the top three letdown their focus.

Prediction: Pain. Clubber Lang says, 'Ain't no fool who gonna predict nothing when they put themselves on the line.' Actually, I'm fairly certain he said no such thing, but Mr. T rules.

METRO EAST (Princeton, NJ)

Being originally from the East Coast, I'm a big fan of double-elimination bracket play. In geographically larger regions, it doesn't make as much sense; but when it is in effect, there is something wonderful about teams fighting to stay alive every step of the way. It also makes Sunday at Regionals feel even more like the playoffs.

The Anton Chigurhs did a number on their section, taking it to a very respectable Cornell squad with an impressive 15-7 win. Having been fairly invisible since Vegas, Ottawa validated their status as a frontrunner by allowing exactly seven points against them, all of which were in the finals.

The trio of Pittsburgh, Maryland and Cornell figures to be the most likely to take the second spot. I wouldn't be surprised to see Pitt and Maryland face each other twice, once in the semis and once in the backdoor finals. The winner of their likely semis matchup will have an interesting option in the finals against Ottawa -- go all out for the win or save some energy to avoid the common pitfall that has plagued many teams who have lost a tough game in the finals.

NYU is seeded above Cornell but they haven't proven over the course of the season that they can beat several quality opponents in a row. For them to have a legitimate shot, they'll have to beat Cornell in their likely quarterfinal matchup. Getting to the semis is crucial in this format.

Prediction: Ottawa and Pitt. Maryland beats Pitt in the front door semis but loses to them in an epic backdoor final that goes to double game point.