The Ultimate Players Association College Championships will be held on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, from Friday, May 25 to Sunday, May 27.
Princess Layout's road to the national tournament was fairly smooth. At the sectional tournament held at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Dartmouth made quick work of its opponents and never seemed in danger of losing a game. The following week at the regional tournament held in Hanover, it was more of the same for Dartmouth as its closest margin of victory all day was four scores.
In addition to Dartmouth, Tufts, who finished as the runner-up in the regional tournament, also secured a bid to nationals. Tufts had beaten Dartmouth twice earlier in the season, but Princess Layout brought its best against the Jumbos when it mattered.
The team will try to replicate its success from last year by playing together as a team just as they had in the sectional and regional tournaments. Last year, Princess Layout upset sixth-seeded University of Georgia and eleventh-seed Carleton College before falling to eventual champion Stanford.
The national tournament works like a combination of the World Cup in soccer and the college baseball World Series. There is a pool play stage with four pools where the teams are divided into groups of four, followed by a knockout stage. In the group stage the top three teams advance to the knockout stage, and losers in the knockout stage are sent to the losers' bracket.
Since this is the fourth straight year the team has made it this far, captain Nora Johnson '08 wants her team to play like a veteran squad. Last year's team featured only three seniors, so Princess Layout has plenty of experienced athletes under its belt.
"We want to have fun and also treat it as a competitive tournament at the same time," Johnson said. "It's our fourth straight year in nationals, so we need to not act like it's a surprise that we made it. The tournament is especially important for the juniors and sophomores on the team to get experience with national level competition."
Although Dartmouth finished atop the New England region, the team is seeded fourth in the four-team group Pool B. The New England region is not considered one of the tougher regions in the country and Princess Layout is ranked No. 38 in the country, the lowest out of any team competing at nationals.
Prior to the seedings announcement, Johnson was not disappointed by the fact that the team was likely to receive a low seeding, but rather she relished the opportunity for her team to produce upsets.
"We expect to be low, somewhere around maybe 13th or 14th. We're going to take this as an opportunity to surprise some teams and turn some heads," Johnson said.
Top-ranked UCLA looks to be the favorite at this point, but there are several other teams such as California, British Columbia, Wisconsin and Stanford that are legitimate contenders for the title.
California is the best-represented state in the field with five qualifying teams, including four in the University of California system. Many of the schools in the field are also those that are known for having strong academic reputations, such as Northwestern and Stanford.
The tournament also features an unlikely entrant, the Violets Femmes of New York University. The school has never had a reputation for having strong athletic programs, but New York University has managed to field a very competitive team to represent the Big Apple.
Two Dartmouth alums will also be on hand at nationals. Lakshmi Narayan '06, an all-region selection from 2004 to 2006 and a top-five finisher for the Callahan Award for the best player in the nation, and Adam Siegelman '06, an all-region selection in 2005 and 2006, will take part in the Alumni All-Star Showcase teams.
