By Little Earthquake
Photo by Matthew Becker Photography
Fresh off of a second place win at the Dustbowl Invitational Tournament last month, SFVRD entered the Battle for the Coast seeded first and proved that was exactly where they were meant to be. Six teams participated in this WFTDA sanctioned tournament to duke it out for the coveted trophy – the Battle for the Coast Oar.
SFV’s premier bout for the tournament on Saturday, April 18th, was a celebration of many sorts. The pivotal blocker, Mimi Murderface, celebrated her birthday doing what she does best on the track – hitting; the Like OMGs’ new cobra mascot made its lively debut among the fans; and SFV secured their first win of the tournament against Derby Revolution of Bakerfield. The SFV soldiers maintained a definitive lead from the get-go. Barring obstacles such as helmet high blocks to the face, or being forced to play leap frog, SFV whisked a huge win from DRB, scoring 257 to 69 points.
Early Sunday morning brought an entirely different atmosphere in the bout against the V Town Derby Dames. V Town held the lead for most of the first half and, with only 30 seconds left, SFV won it back. The brutal second half hosted a few more lead changes as each team fought to “nickel and dime” as many points as possible, inching forward only to be knocked back again. The OMGs came out on top with a 165-129 win over V Town, sending them to the championship game where they would again face the unrelenting Derby Dames.
Having only the opportunity to recuperate for the duration of two bouts, SFV once again fought against V Town in the championship game Sunday afternoon. Beginning with Killo Kitty’s 20 points in the very first jam, SFV kept a strong lead against V Town, who weren’t able to score a single point against the OMG blockers until 20 minutes left of the first half. V Town fought hard, but it wasn’t enough to stop the SFV winning streak. SFV went undefeated with their final bout score of 231 to 109, awarding the team with a few firsts: SFV was seeded first and took first place in the tournament; this was the first time that #41, Legacy, won the tournament MVP blocker award, and this was the first time SFV won the coveted Oar. It most likely won’t be their last.
Congratulations to all of the teams who participated and many thanks to everyone involved in making this event and this win happen.
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