Praying Manti feasted upon at home tourney

Three teams grace North Fields with disc prowess

Springtime came early to Oberlin last Saturday when the woman's ultimate frisbee team hosted their only home tournament of the season.

The sun was shining, the fields were unsaturated, and the Oberlin pep band played "Walk Like an Egyptian" in the background. Three other women's teams had also arrived in Northeastern Ohio.

It was not for the sun; it was not for the free oranges; it was not even for the beauty of the East Field Storage Facility. These women came for the sport of ultimate.

The Oberlin Praying Manti played three games with a final tally of 1 win and 2 losses. Not satisfied with the last two games, the hearty Manti scrimmaged against themselves in a final game to finish up the day.

The twenty Oberlin players made their presence immediately known as they unveiled their new uniforms to the unsuspecting visitors. The orange and lime green shirts had arrived the day before the tournament to take their place above the Manti's gold-sequined skirts and purple knee socks.

"Fashion is first," senior Brooke Wilkerson rightfully commented.

The tournament commenced with a speech from the dodgy "Coach Bob" from the University of Indiana's team, Calamity Jane. Bob (the only male on the field) praised the upcoming National Woman's Day and handed out "Air Heads" candy. The Manti were not touched by this gesture but took the Air Heads in good cheer.

The Manti first played a team made up of women from the University of Michigan and Carnegie Mellon. Despite the massive student enrollment of these two universities they failed to assemble a frisbee team that could stand up to Oberlin.

The Oberlin women dominated the game and won, 15-4. When the UM-CM team broke down on defense, the Manti took it upon themselves to create some nice flows down the field.

For the next match-up the sequined superstars played the infamous Calamity Jane. The Manti were a little shocked by the sudden transition from the loose defense of the first game to the "Zone" defense played by Jane in the second half of the match. "Zone" is when the opposing team abandons the traditional woman-to-woman marking and clusters instead around the player with the disc. This makes the initial throw harder to get off and requires the offense to make short throws down the field.

Co-captain junior Lisa Novins remained collected on the field and tried to keep the flow despite the opposition. She had some memorable "give and go" plays with the other co-captain sophomore Suzy Walsh, including one of the day's prettiest points. The final score was 15-2 Calamity Jane.

"There was a lot of ice cream in the second game," said first-year Kate Conetta, referring to the Manti's promise to buy ice cream to any teammate who laid out on defense. First-years Shawn Margles, Tori Johnson and Walsh all earned their frozen treats in the course of the day. First-year Meg Ansara also received kudos for her intensity on the field and lack of fear while chasing the disc.

For the third match the Oberlin women played the club team with the best name in the tournament, Catshit. As the wind picked up on North Fields, Catshit played the Zone again on Oberlin. The Manti came painfully close to scoring a number of times, and one point was played for over 20 minutes.

"That was the hardest point we played all day," said Conetta. The final score of 15-0 was a disappointment for the young team. Reflecting on the loss, sophomore Abby Sullivan said. "Catshit has clearly been playing together for years. They are very good at leading each other."

Not wanting to end the day with Catshit, the Manti scrimmaged each other. There was lots of individual effort as the women took the skills they learned from the past day and put it to use in the late afternoon sun. Players were willing to take risks and gained back confidence in their playing ability. Some of the younger players in new positions remarked on how much they learned from the tournament.

The Manti's season really picks up during Spring Break when they will take a trip down South with the men's team for some serious competition. The first weekend of Break they will be at College Easterns in Wilmington, NC against nationally ranked competition. On March 28-29, the second weekend of break, there will be another large tournament in Clemson, SC.

Jessica Toubman is a member of the women's ultimate team.

Decked out: The Praying Manti displayed a secret weapon last weekend: their day-glo jerseys and their sequined skirts. (photo courtesy of Jessica Toubman)