The Dartmouth women's Ultimate Frisbee team finished the four-day competition in 13th place after going point-for-point with some of the top teams in the nation.
"Our team knew we could run with any other team in this tournament going in, regardless of seed," co-captain Molly Roy '09 said. "In tournaments earlier in the year, we had a few of the teams that were seeded above us, so we knew we could still do really well."
Heading into the national tournament as the 19th seed in a field of 20 teams, the squad looked to cap off its previous successes earlier in the season with a Cinderella run.
On Saturday, Dartmouth and four other colleges were grouped into Pool C, which included the No. 3 University of Wisconsin and the No. 6 University of Oregon.
Although the Big Green lost its opening game to the University of Colorado in a tight contest, the women's squad quickly rebounded with an impressive outing against the Badgers. Wisconsin, however, responded to the threat with equal intensity, increasing its defensive pressure to close out the game 15-10.
"We played like we had nothing to lose," Rohre Titcomb '09 said. "Our younger, less experienced team was willing to run hard and give everything to trying to win the game, and we gave [Wisconsin] an extremely good run for their money, considering how much higher they were seeded."
Needing a win, Dartmouth seized its opportunity against the No. 15 University of Southern California.
Down 5-3 in the early part of the game, the Big Green scored two consecutive points to tie the score, jump-starting a potent offensive led by Titcomb, Marika Austin '09 and Katie Nash '09. Mixing quick cuts into the end zone with deep throws downfield, Princess Layout was able to establish its offense without compromising the defensive perimeter and win, 15-11.
Princess Layout took the momentum from the win over USC into its showdown with Oregon, establishing an early 2-1 lead against the Ducks. After a timeout, Oregon called on its experienced starting lineup and deep roster to combine conservative play with aggressive, fast-paced offense that penetrated the Big Green's zone defense.
"You can see this difference when you look at the skill level of our top players," Titcomb said. "Our top seven are very well-matched against other schools' top seven, but other schools' seventh to 15th players are much stronger than our seventh to 15th players. So, it comes down to the fact that we aren't as deep of a team."
Despite a fine effort from the Dartmouth lineup, Oregon was too much for the outgunned Dartmouth team. The Ducks took the win, 15-8.
Princess Layout finished the day with a record of 1-3, and failed to advance into the round of eight after the preliminaries.
On Sunday, in the competition for ninth place, Dartmouth avenged its one-point loss to Northeastern University from earlier in the season with a 13-11 victory over the Huskies.
Princess Layout compiled a 4-1 record at the New England College Women's Regionals on May 2 and 3, where the team's only loss was to Northeastern by a score of 13-12.
Dartmouth's run at ninth place, however, was stopped short, as Carleton College of Northfield, Minn., with fresh legs from its first-round bye, pulled out a 14-10 victory over a fatigued Dartmouth squad.
The loss dropped Princess Layout out of the top 10, but the team ended its day on a high note with a 12-7 victory over Colorado, giving Dartmouth a 13th-place finish.
Top-seeded University of California at Santa Barbara won the tournament with a 15-11 victory over Washington University in the final. Carleton defeated the University of North Carolina at Wilmington to clinch ninth place.
Despite the tournament's outcome, Titcomb said that Dartmouth's level of play on the regional stage should cement the squad's status as a top competitor.
"Really, our performance in both pool play and placement play showed that we are a top-level team who can compete with the best teams in the country," Titcomb said.
Titcomb came in fourth place in voting for the Callahan Award, which is given to the best male and female Ultimate players in the country. She was entered into the voting after she was selected by her teammates as Princess Layout's most valuable player.
Wisconsin's Georgia Bosscher won the award for the women, and the University of Michigan's Will Neff won it for the men.
