Last week the Monash Ultimate Frisbee team packed their suitcases and headed over to Perth to compete in a series of action-packed matches at UniSport Nationals. The 18 player mixed team came into the competition excited and prepared, having trained all winter in Melbourne’s less-than-glamorous conditions.
They hit the ground running, winning their first two matches against the University of Newcastle and the University of Western Australia. This was a great confidence boost going into future matches.
Day two began with a tough-fought match against Curtin University, with CU narrowly pulling out a win, ending with a final score of 9-11. Later that day, Monash competed in their second match against the University of New South Wales, coming away with a convincing victory of 13-7.
Day three, Monash played against Deakin University, a favourite to win and a team that had previously defeated Monash in local competition. The teams were very evenly matched, with both teams playing excellently in a back and forth game. In the end, Monash Ultimate managed to win by a single point, for a final score of 9-8. This was a huge win, which pushed Monash into the quarter finals against the University of Queensland! Monash managed to win convincingly in the quarter finals with a final score of 9-5, despite having played in four days of continuous competition.
That match advanced Monash Ultimate’s standing in the competition, placing them in the semi-finals against RMIT. Having trained the Friday before Nationals with RMIT, Monash knew that they would be in for a tough match against the rival team. Unfortunately, despite a close match, they did not end up on top, with a final score of 7-10. With their heads held high, Monash went into the bronze medal match against the University of Technology Sydney, ready to give it everything they had. The Bronze medal match was competitive, sadly UTS narrowly won with a final score of 10-13.
Overall, the team is still very happy with their performance at Nationals, they played well together and developed as people and players. There were also several key members of the team, including Zoe O’Connor, Jireh Loo, Rayne Chew and Thomas Bat, who played very skillfully throughout the tournament.
Amazing job guys, congratulations on your success this year at Nationals!
Written by Olivia Mc Mahon