The Sea to Sky Sirens started out hot but couldn鈥檛 hold onto that sizzle, ultimately falling 174-158 to Whistler鈥檚 Black Diamond Betties at Brennan Park on Saturday (May 30).
The Sirens built up 26-0 and then 32-4 leads in the opening moments of the bout but the Betties narrowed the gap at the seven minute mark and the two clubs traded leads for much of the first half. The Sirens held onto a 75-64 lead at the half.
The Betties skated away with the game in the second half and despite a late game charge led by Geneveive 鈥淗oney Badger鈥� Medrano, the Sirens lost 174-158.
鈥淚 think everybody started to get a little frantic,鈥� said the Sirens Rowdy Roddy Pippa, aka: Lindsay Leathem. 鈥淲histler is a really hard hitting team and we were great in the first half but things just got frantic for us.鈥�
Rowdy said the team has six new players and are still trying to develop some team chemistry.
鈥淲e have a lot of new people and we鈥檙e figuring out how to work together again,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur new players are fantastic and it鈥檚 great we can rotate them in, which helps keep everyone fresh.鈥�
Carin 鈥淪weetie Gonzalez鈥� Smolinski earned the top blocker award, with Mysty Mischief winning the most valuable player.
Smolinksi said she was proud of the way the Sirens played.
鈥淚 thought we were calm, cool and collected,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had players kicked out and have argued with refs in the past but we don鈥檛 do that anymore 鈥� I attribute that to our coaches.鈥�
She said it was an honour to win best blocker of the game.
鈥淚t means so much because it鈥檚 voted by the other team and their coaches,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey said they gave it to me for my offensive blocking and that鈥檚 been one of my goals to help out the jammers more. I鈥檓 one of the oldest on the team so it鈥檚 pretty awesome, they can鈥檛 call me old until they can catch me.鈥�
She said Whistler is an athletic team but that the Sirens could use a little work on their transition game.
鈥淲e need to work on switching from offense to defense quicker,鈥� she said, of the Sirens blockers. 鈥淭he second their jammer gets through we want to help our jammer out.鈥�
Top scorers for the Sirens included: Medrano (jams of 14, 10 and 10), Leathem (jams of 13 and 10), Purr-Fect-Lee-Legal (jams of 14 and 10) and Jestice Hertz (10 point jam).
The Betties had big games from: Va Va Voom La Doom (jams of 20 and 15), Natural Born Spiller (15 point jam) and Gold D. Blocks (15 point jam).
Gold D. Blocks earned MVP and Jonestown Mascara won best blocker of the game for the Betties.
It鈥檚 shaping up to be a busy summer for the Sirens, with the first ever Sweeping Booty鈥檚 boot camp occurring at Brennan Park next week. Some of the best athletes in the sport are coming to 麻豆社国产to teach and players from all over the province are participating.
The Sirens next home bout occurs on June 27 when the Brickhouse Betties from Comox come to town. There is also a bout scheduled for 麻豆社国产Days weekend in August.
For more information on the team, visit www.squamishrollerderby.ca.
