CCC Recap
Posted by Nick Lance on 2010-01-25 22:42:55

A bit late but here it is. Written by Fish
Georgia Tech Tribe played in Georgia's annual CCC tournament in Chattanooga. Seeded 10th to start, Tech began Saturday's warmups in the snow with a light wind, but not really enough to give zones a significant advantage. With temperatures near 25 degrees early in the morning, the weather was a new--but in many cases equalizing--challenge.
Short story: 3rd place overall, won our pool, beat Delaware, lost to UVA in semis, beat Georgia for 3rd.
The first game was against North Carolina, against whom Tribe ended the 2009 spring season. After putting in the offensive point with a deep catch by Garrett, Tech broke the Darkside offense and spent most of the first half up by a point. While UNC mixed it up with both man and zone defenses throughout the game, GT ran primarily a man or short transition, as would be the case for most of the weekend. The snow quickly became muddy, and this translated into some eventually sloppy play. Handler Ethan Edgerton played an especially solid game, both offensively and defensively. UNC wanted quick resets throughout the game, and even bumping defenders had trouble getting a good first step without slipping. Rookie transfers Matt Fralick and Alex Kropp played well throughout the game, getting some significant time on D-lines. Although Tech had the lead late in the second half, some errant hucks and bad luck turned into a 13-10 UNC victory.
As the third seed in the pool, Tribe had to move over (which is dreadfully inconvenient when a semi-dry and tree-covered spot was already claimed) to a field in worse condition to play Texas. Texas clearly was not the same team that went to Semis of Nationals last year--although playing with the same straight stack and one-way force as they were last year, Doublewide apparently had some new pickups. However... Tech was apparently still feeling the malaise of the UNC game. Taylor Eslinger used his home-field advantage, and Although Tech won 13-11, it gave coach Russell Snow a case of the grumbles. Highlights included rookie Tyler Plunkett getting a pair of Ds, Garrett Braun giving his defender an opportunity to sit in the mud, and Nick Lance appearing human.
Tech had to again move fields to play South Florida, whom we hadn't ever played. However, no harm was really done, as they tend to alternate using their two disc skills, one of which is turning it over. Fifth-year Michael Pribble had several huge points, including one with a huge layout to save possession and then to score the point on a cone cut. I don't remember much more about this game because it was kind of a yawner. Hogan McHugh decided that the sideline was boring and that he had a decided schematic advantage over his yogurt-induced stomach rumbling, and started playing defensive points, alternating deep-deep responsibilities with EJ Layne. Tech started throwing some more zone to demonstrate the shortcomings of USF's throws, and sophomore Trironk Kiatkungwanglai played some mistake-free handler to finish this late-starting game 11-8.
Up next was sectional rival Clemson, which was coming off consecutive universe point wins over Texas and UNC. After a lackluster first half played to 7-5 GT, the defense took it upon themselves to put on for their city, rather than the small village. An easy choice for this game's highlight (and a large contribution toward designation of freshman of the day) was freshman Clay Williams going waaaay up for an out-of-nowhere sky D on a Clemson huck, and then later getting the double happiness. With Victor Lesniewski covering up Clemson's Ben Slade to great effect, newcomers Taylor Rasco and Karl Staber combined with Ramu Annamalai and Andrew Dunbeck to finish the game 13-7. A huge shout-out for this game goes to senior Alex Bui. After struggling with a dumb injury all of last spring, this game helped presage a Sunday of outstanding defense (he may have led the team in layouts attempted) and money throws whether from a handler or cutter position.
The final game of the day was against Purdue's Undue Purversity, a spoonerism that still tickles me. By this point, the field was a sloppy mess, and there was talk of stacks specifically to stand defenders in the mud. Fan favorite and fluffy-headed prodigy Bobby Ellington had his best game of the weekend, using his extensive playing time to get several wide-open unders. Like South Florida, they were just athletic enough not to completely blow the game, but Tech rode open lines to finish the day with a 13-8 victory and a 4-1 record. Our cooldown lap took us over to the last point of UNC-Texas. Texas' lousy day was mollified only by beating UNC, but needing a pair of bad calls to do so... the effect of which was to drop Darkside below Clemson in the pool, and giving Georgia Tech a somewhat more favorable matchup to start Sunday's play.
Despite our best efforts, Sunday had a slightly late start, and warmups started just half an hour before playing Delaware. We had had a scouting report from Jojah that Delaware (Sideshow) was addicted to the backhand around break. To that end, we started by shifting our marks well around, and quickly parlayed defensive pressure into a 5-2 lead, as Nick Lance and Michael Spear were connecting on hucks early. Andrew Fish decided it was time to lay out. So he did. Delaware fought back and was pulling down 6-5. I was about to cut from the outside of the H-stack when I saw Nick going to the house with 10 yards easy on his defender. So I stood there while Hogan put a perfect huck to the back of the end zone, and Tech broke to half 8-5. Senior Gabe Miranda, showing he's happy to be back, had a solid game matching up against two of their better players. However, their Truck Stop player was doing big things, and Tech was having trouble stopping their deep shots. Yet again, Tech upped the defensive pressure and pushed the score to 12-10, and the teams traded out as Nick finished the game 15-13 on a hammer to Hogan.
Semifinals were against the defending AC Regional champs, Virginia's Night Train. Victor Lesniewski and Nick Lance tag-teamed UVA stud Tyler Conger, but he's literally the luckiest player I've ever seen (and, apparently, has the innate awareness to set his right as a pivot foot when throwing a high-release backhand, and not travel while doing so). Led by his play, Night Train willingly attacked the break side. Early on, UVA went up a break, and Tech couldn't get it back, going down 8-7 at half. At that point, we began playing somewhat "experimental" lines and backed into the third-place game, 15-11.
Disappointing though it was to be fairly close to a competitive team, our rivals from Georgia were a more pressing issue than discussing the previous game. The game was close until 4-4, when a line that was designed for defense was put in. They twice got a turn, and then, led by Dunbeck, Jack Curran, Chris Stewart, and EJ, they worked it up to the goal line. Trapped on the flick side and at stall 9, Pribble had to do something... so his desperation hammer-blade went up... and through two defenders... and into the welcoming hands of Karl for a goal, 5-4 Tech! At that point, the sidelines realized... this game was fun. We started playing much more loosely, as Georgia started hollering at each other. One particular example of the fun happened when Hogan hucked to an under-cutting Ramu, who made a bid from 30 yards away screaming that he'd get there. Fish and Hogan both had another big game, giggling at the efforts of tall slow people to stay with them. Ramu later had a nasty layout bid on an upline throw, and his pressure forced a turnover which Tech eventually converted into a break. As the game had been agreed to go to 13, a break out of half for an 8-5 advantage was huge. Victor Lesniewski kept matching up against Jojah's best, or just handling. Nick Lance set up a nasty inside break by throwing around an inexperienced defender, and Tech maintained the advantage throughout the half, as Spear and Bui were moving the disc to great effect. Garrett Braun showed some great field vision, breaking to push the lead to 11-8, and the teams traded out from there. Tyler Plunkett showcased his offensive skills, running down a deep shot from Nick late in the first half, making two killer continuation cuts for goals from Fish, and finally reeling in Spear's final huck of the day for the victory, 13-8. So far as we know, it's been at least seven years since we beat Georgia, and this is the first win over them for anyone on the active roster. So that's a 3rd-place finish at CCC under our belts, and with the whole winter break for project athletic everyone, we're all anxious for the spring season.
I'll send out another e-mail at some point with information on potentially purchasing alumni jerseys or, if you'd like to help support the team in some other way, we'd be glad to hear about it. Thanks for reading; come practice with us if you have expendable free time, and happy new year from all of us. Contact me at 'afish3 at gatech dot edu'
http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=7084
Tournament coverage featured us a couple of times, most extensively at http://monup.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/ccc-liii-sunday-first-round-rec... again in the Semifinals against Virginia.
Chad Borer took pictures throughout the weekend, including some good shots of GT's play against Delaware and Virginia: http://www.frameatatime.com/Galleries/Ultimate/CCC/10656833_HiNzV#741...

First week schedule change
Posted by Nick Lance on 2009-08-18 11:49:59

We are going to be adding a practice this Wednesday from 6-8. It allows us for an extra 2 hours of scrimmaging before intermurals start.
First week schedule
Tues 6-8
Wed 6-8
Thurs 6-8
Second week and beyond
Tues 4-6
Thurs 4-6

Fall Tryout Schedule
Posted by Nick Lance on 2009-08-11 21:19:43

The tryout times for this season starts Tuesday the 18th. For the first week we are on the turf fields at the CRC 6-8pm TWTH After the first week of classes we will still have practice at the CRC fields. 4-6pm TTH If you want to tryout but cannot make these times please send an email to The Captains and let us know so we can try to accommodate you.

Considering Playing for Tech?
Posted by Andrew Fish on 2009-04-26 01:17:10

Are you going to be visiting the Georgia Tech campus soon? Are you planning on attending Georgia Tech next year? Are you interested in joining the Tribe? Let us know! Send an email to one or all of us.
gth733 at mail dot gatech dot edu
mspear at gatech dot edu
ndlance at gatech dot edu

AC Regionals Recap
Posted by Andrew Fish on 2009-04-26 01:12:51

Today we played a trifling bit of ultimate at the Atlantic Coast Regionals. Tech came in seeded 11th, which was pretty much justified based on a few bad tournaments and crucial losses to teams just ahead of us. In any case, we got put in the A-pool with Florida, William and Mary, and James Madison. It was a flippin’ warm day, which resulted in some serious hydration and cramping issues. With Garrett, TK, and Zirbel missing and Maxwell still hobbled from DoG, Tech essentially played 15 guys all day.

SPOILER ALERT: Overall finish: 1-3, t-9th , no advancement to Sunday.

The Florida game, we came in expecting just to have a solid warmup, and that’s about what it was. Florida broke twice as Tech had the intimidation jitters and struggled with poaches off of the handlers. Spear started Tech’s scoring with a flick to Fish. Florida scored a couple more times, and didn’t really have to throw much zone—the only time they did, Victor got a blade from Spear, popped it to Hogan, and the point was finished with an easy flick for the score. Half was done 7-3, and the D-line got some opportunities to play O-points to warm up their flow. The game ended at 15-7, with nothing hugely spectacular happening. The deep game was clicking effectively, and it seemed we could work it under with no trouble. Major issues: poach and switch by opponents, reading discs instead of opponents, and occasional silly drops and throwaways. Our conclusions on Florida: Despite the negative publicity, they didn’t play dirty or really make bad calls. Maybe we’re just too far beneath them.

With that game ending early, Tech had half an hour to investigate bagels, other rounds, and get a scouting report on future opponents. William and Mary, the 8-seed, had a very patient offense that wasn’t afraid to swing the disc and isolate a single under at a time. When that started not working, due to great pressure by the marks, led by Aaron and Ramu, they opened it up and #27 and the guy who looked like a steroided Russian assassin #1 put shots at will. Tech stacked D-points to start, with Nick throwing two early hammers to Fish for scores. William and Mary fought back, though, as they scored and broke to tie it up. After a chilly O-point, Tech took the lead and got a turn. After working it down to the goal line, Ramu had a flick mark on the flick side. He saw Spear making an in-cut, but threw to the end zone too far inside. W&M thought it had an easy D, but Victor flew out of nowhere for a siiiiiick layout grab, 4-2 Tech. #27 had two run-through D’s on Hogan and Fish (with silent footsteps, who knew there was a man on?). Some effective isos by William and Mary kept working when we went man, and the trusty 2-3-2 was spread so well that it seemed like we had to man upfield, and they eventually took half, 8-6. With the O-point coming after half, GT resolved to play it smart. That failed quickly, as the wind had picked up and a Hogan huck went out the back downwind. From the initiation, Ethan’s man went deep on the backhand third, and the throw went up downline. Fish saw it the whole way and crashed, getting a clean sky and sprinting to the other end zone for the trigger-happy Spear, running down the bookends, 8-7 W&M. The downwind throws kept getting tougher, as we had trouble finding the right touch. Hogan had the opportunity to make the “best sky of [his] season” and did so in style. With a pretty upline throw from Hogan to Nick, Tech retook the lead 11-10. Both teams started struggling to get flow working, with EJ playing heads-up downfield D, twice bodying out to knock away scores. At 12-all, the cap blew, game to 14. This was a D-point for Tech, and Sean got the circus D in their end zone. With 70 yards to work and already a tired team, the cuts were struggling, as Nick and Aaron had to work it back and forth. Finally, Nick got pissed off that this wasn’t club, and demanded that Fish go deep. With a deep poach already back, he put a 70-yard downwind hanger. Fish had time to get position and ripped over two guys, striking a pose to celebrate. Panicked, William and Mary threw their ensuing O-point on a perfect grounder to shortstop at midfield. Tech patiently swung the disc to move it upfield, and Fish called a timely foul on his marker. With a nod to Noah, he planned to break upline, but Ramu got to the corner first to end the game, 14-12.

Since that game had gone into cap, Tribe had no time to get a good rest or warmup in. 10 minutes after the previous game, we started against JMU on defense. They love the invert, whether it’s flick or backhand, and used the wind well to float stuff just enough. Even “covered” upline throws were viable, especially on the upwind, gaining 10 yards at a time. To be honest, I don’t remember much about this game, because we were all flippin’ exhausted. Sean and Hogan both scored on deep shots. They also loved to huck, and even late looks were possible. The offense looked really good, at times moving the disc like an easy flow drill, but got broken once in the first half, as JMU took half 8-6. Nick’s semi-magic heart started acting up, and he had to take a serious rest. Tech took the O-point, and then we traded O-points, 9-8 JMU. After they sent it deep for a help D from Koch, Spear threw a flick upwind to a streaking Fish to once again even the score. On the next D point, Victor had another layout score on a crummy, blady huck from Fish. With the score at 11s and Tech receiving, each team turned once and the offense took the second opportunity to go up one, with the cap making it hard to 13. All the offense came out to be sure about the last possible point, and JMU knew they needed it, and they worked the unders followed by a 40-yard out to get the tie and force universe. Hogan and Spear started in the middle, and Noah started a series of unders, from Spear to Hogan to Ethan, swinging to Bui, back to Spear on the goal line. He wanted a quick high release to Fish, but put it within only two fingers of stretching reach for the turn. Our exhausted line bid three times on their unders, but a flick got off for another medium out and the heartbreaking loss. Based on point diff between W&M, JMU, and Tribe, we still took third in the pool, meaning we had a crossover for a berth to Sunday.

UNC finished second in their pool with FSU, Georgia, and Clemson, while playing a very tight line of 8 or 9 guys. It seemed like they expected this to be an easy game, not playing any of their studs for the first few points, and it showed; Tribe took an early 3-2 lead. Dunbeck and E.J. both had killer deep cuts throughout the game, as Spear continued to put almost anything he saw. He and Hogan both put inverts out to space that Fish ran onto, with UNC twice laying out into his back for discs that had already been caught above his head. That happened no fewer than 5 times throughout the day, and Spear and Hogan both had the same thing happen to them in the four games. At this point, fatigue was really screwing us, as Fish and Koch both had shinsplints seriously catching up to them, Victor’s legs and back cramping completely, and Hogan's 8-month old swollen ankle. In any case, UNC scored three straight to make the score 7-5. Tech turned a deep shot, and UNC was working it up the flick side. A throw went up to UNC’s #24, and Nick went right by him for a layout catch D. He gave it to Spear and took off. Spear decided it was not a good time to throw unders,FIXED: and called for a time out. After setting, seeing a stagnant stack and a timely foul, Nick took off deep from the start, then Spear lasered what I thought was a terrible throw—with entire zip codes to throw to, he sends it flat and right at the front cone—but Nick decided otherwise, getting a waist-high layout with full extension just inside the sideline and in the end zone, begging that the Chain player/observer call this his tryout. Tech broke once more to tie at 7, but couldn’t get another for half. No one listened to Spear at halftime, because everyone was too tired to decipher his mumblings. In the second half, Ramu matched up on #22, one of their main guys. He got a sa-weet bid on a deep shot to him, but the observer upheld the Lebron charity foul call on another high layout, which they eventually scored. UNC started doing some serious poaches off of the handlers, and Bui and Ethan both caught hucks by abusing the poaches. Continuing the success with Spear and Hogan’s hucking, Nick, Hogan, Fish, EJ, and Dunbeck all caught scores or near-scores. The game went to 11s, but Tech was exhausted and couldn’t finish strongly, as cap went on and the game ended on a break, 14-11.

Despite going 1-3 on the day and not having any shot at advancing to Nationals, the team wasn’t terribly disappointed with our performance. Florida aside, every game was competitive, and the entire team played well, individually and collectively. It was rough dealing with injuries and only 15 players, particularly in hot and humid weather. Tech returns almost everyone for next year, in addition to picking up a freshman class, B-team studs, and returning injured players. We don’t have any video or pictures from this weekend, but if we see links posted, we’ll put them on the website.

Team summer goals are to improve our athleticism, disc skills, and comfort in timing good cuts.