This weekend was the annual Kendra Fallon Memorial Day Tournament. It’s the first home tournament for your UC San Diego Psychos and the last tournament of the 2018 year. The Psychos were ready at the NCRA Fields bright and early to set the fields at 6:30am both Saturday and Sunday mornings. After double-coning end zones and noshing on bagels and bananas, Psycho A and Beserk warmed up together before splitting for pool play.

Berserk showed grit and resilience throughout the entire weekend. They finished the weekend with a 0-7 record but the score is never indicative of the results that matter the most. The rookies earned plenty of playing time, allowing them to improve as the weekend progressed. Similarly, the returners had to step into the unfamiliar roles as handlers, playing with conviction. We’re excited to see Berserk’s growth as the season continues!

The Psychos blew through their Saturday competition with ease. We won our first game against UC Irvine Grass Ninjas 13-1. Our second game was a win against UCLA Blu 10-5. The third victory of the day was against University of Arizona Scorch with the final score of 8-4. Our final game of the day ended in a win against CSU Long Beach No Regrets, coached by former captain and Psycho alumni, Tote.

The first game of Sunday was the final game of pool play. The Psychos came out strong and we were able to secure first seed in our pool with a win against USC Hellions of Troy, with the score of 10-4. Now, bracket play would commence. We faced off against Arizona State University Caliente in quarterfinals and took the W, 13-1. In semis, we found ourselves matched against Cal Poly Slo Motion and sealed the game 10-6, advancing into the finals. The finals game proved to be the most difficult as the Psychos as we took the game to universe point. Utah Spiral Jetty had strong handlers who could rip huge hucks and quick downfield cutters who attacked the deep space. They also threw multiple Zone defenses of which our rookies were hopelessly confused as we had yet to even teach them zone offense and defense. However, the older, more experienced Psychos were able to remain composed and take the win, ending the game 8-7. This is the second year in a row in which the Psychos were able to win KFall.

Highlights go to rookies, Marissa “Dodek” Hing, Charlotte “Mojojojo” Sue, and Lauren “Tello” Stuart as the three continually streaked deep for huge hucks and scores. Captain Stacy “Aero” Tran was able to get the first Callahan of the year. Third year O-Line cutters, Pin-Hsuan “Kirby” Chen and Alexandra “Dante” Diaz stepped away from their usual cutting spots, and did outstanding jobs in their stints this weekend as handlers. Katie “Doku” Kissner played hard defense and accumulated multiple run through D’s. We’re excited to have her back after she had taken the last year off to recover from long-term injuries. Overall, this weekend was a success as returners stepped into new roles while rookies showed tremendous growth throughout the tournament. Although we won the tournament, the best is yet to come and you better believe that we’re going to be working harder than ever to continue improving our game.

Written by Sara “Frost” Zhang