Phoenix seems to have Tucson’s number this year, as AZRD’s Bad News Beaters defeated Tucson Roller Derby’s Vice Squad, 246-69, on Saturday. The bout marks a 4-0 record atop the Arizona State Roller Derby Conference standings for the Beaters.
Beater jammers Maria Montoya and Loco Lena made prime targets after their performance in Tucson last month, so Vice came out with a heavy-hitting attack. Yet by focusing on defense, and sticking to a small rotation of jammers, Vice’s offense suffered.
Maria Montoya almost reached the century mark with 99 points, while Loco Lena had 62.
The Beaters posted 37 points before Vice even got on the board in the first half, and three jams of more than 20 points each helped Phoenix to secure the advantage. The score was 142-29 at the half.
Vice came out strong in the second half, with a pair of double-digit jams, but was held to just 10 points in the next 17 jams.
The Beaters’ defense — led by Whoop C, Ovary Z, Deez Nutz, Dee Troit, and Block ‘n’ DekHer — was just tough, tough, tough. They continually held up Vice’s jammers with a “truck and trailer” strategy, where one defender turns around and pushes her teammates from the front to form a stronger wall.
A high point in the second half came on the 12th jam, when penalty trouble left Deez Nutz as the only Beater blocker on the floor. She quickly contained the Vice jammer and knocked her out of bounds, while Beater jammer Montoya beat four defenders to take lead jammer.
The bout was notable for the different strategies both team’s jammers used. During several jams, when Vice’s jammer couldn’t break through the Beater wall, she would switch to playing defense in attempt to stop the scoring pass. The “five blocker” strategy only worked to slow the Beater jammers, but not stop their scoring. It was during one of those jams that Maria Montoya scored a bout-high 29 points.
And on a few occasions the star-wearing Loco Lena would knock her fellow jammer out of bounds, then skate far backward, forcing the opponent to enter the track behind her. With the new WFTDA rule set, cutting any player on the track results in a major penalty, so Lena’s opponent faced a choice between going to the box or losing significant track position.
Jaywire was also strong for Vice, at one point impressively running out to lead jammer status on the inside line. And the top blocker for Tucson was May Q Pay, who lived up to her name with several punishing hits.
Among Beater jammers, Ovary Z had 41 points, Deez Nutz had 24, and Sigmund Droid had 16. Top scorer for Vice was Jilimanjaro with 22, while Lewd Tennant had 21 and Jaywire had 12.
— PulHitzHer Prize