2025 College Qualifier Previews: Placer Valley
Author: Jack Levy
PC: Kielan Donahue Photography
Introduction
After a thrilling weekend in Garland, the college qualifiers continue on the West Coast this Saturday in Placer Valley. While Placer Valley will have the lowest number of college teams out of any regional, the early season action on the West Coast suggests we are in for a thriller in California. After some exciting games at Chandra Classic and Heroes vs Villains Invitational, the West Qualifiers will determine who will come out on top and represent the West at nationals. If the past two nationals have taught us anything, it’s not to sleep on the West Coast. Since the D1/D2 split, only West teams have raised the D2 trophy at nationals, and last year was an all-West D2 final. With two teams securing D1 bids and two teams securing D2 bids last week, a third team will be added to both D1 and D2 fields tomorrow.
Arizona State University
When most people think of West Coast Quadball, they typically think of the California teams; Cal, UCLA, and even UC-Irvine. But Arizona State University has flipped the script since the pandemic. In 2022, ASU won the inaugural D2 trophy after the D1/D2 split. In 2023, they were the only West team to make the D1 field. Although they were eliminated on day one at Round Rock last year, they also were placed in the obvious pool of death, with UTSA, Rutgers, and Michigan. Over the past couple years ASU has asserted itself as the headline team in the West, but this season there remains a handful of questions. At Chandra Classic in November, they fell to UCLA in a nail-biter by 30 points. The Sun Devils are coming to California this weekend to not only prove they remain the number one team in the West, but that they can compete on the national level. This Arizona State team has aspirations to not just takedown the California colleges, but take down top teams at future regionals, as they head to Illinois for the Champaign Qualifier next month. Their path to take the West and to compete at the highest level starts tomorrow.
Leading the charge for the Sun Devils are beaters Tanner Bonheimer and Bryanna McLaughlin. The pair is comfortable playing anywhere on the field and likes to push the pace of the game as much as possible. This often means when the pair has control, they are not afraid to apply heavy pressure as soon as the opposing team crosses the midfield line. Oftentimes you can find both Bonheimer and McLaughlin outside their keeper zone looking to generate a transition goal. The two often mix up who takes on the opposing armed and unarmed beater and look to generate a quick turnover. The high pressure the Sun Devil beaters apply puts their chasers in a position to thrive. The ASU chasers love to score on fastbreak opportunities out of their 2-2 zone. Across their games against Cal and UCLA, Amar Dhillon took full advantage of the opportunities the beaters were creating and getting out into transition quickly, racking up a ton of goals at Chandra Classic. When the team doesn’t get in transition, the chasers like to set up in a diamond and take shots. Look for Amber Lee and Jude “Lazerbeam” Matthew to run the halfcourt offense. ASU is also bringing back Austin Cruz, who was a valuable piece for the organization last season and will likely play a big role at keeper. McLaughlin should also be seen chasing this weekend. She will most certainly be scoring critical goals for the Sun Devils as the true utility player she has been all season long. ASU is looking for revenge against UCLA and to leave California with a D1 bid. Tomorrow, we will find out if the Sun Devils can get on track and punch their tickets to Richmond.
University of California - Berkeley
To round out the 2024 season, the Cal Golden Bears returned home with a D2 championship over their in-state rival UCLA. Cal has always been a staple in the West and is looking to rebuild after success in the D2 bracket after last season. They opened their season traveling to UCLA for Chandra Classic where they played both the Bruins and the Sun Devils. The Golden Bears are also coming off valuable experience at Heroes vs Villains Invitational, where they merged with Chicago United. Hoping to learn from playing with club level talent, Cal is coming to Placer Valley to compete unofficially and grow as a team. Look for Vincent Cono, Donovan Farmer, Chloe Foo, and Lisette Martinez in the chasing game and Xing Chan in the beating game. Also expect Se-Hyun Nam to play as a true utility over the weekend. In the seeking game Foo will lead the Golden Bears. Cal will use the regional to grow as a team and develop their talent.
University of California - Los Angeles
UCLA is looking to make a statement at Placer Valley this weekend. After being one of the premiere teams in the West for years, the Bruins fell to their West counterparts last season. The team failed to get a D1 bid for the first time in recent memory, and lost to their in-state rivals, Cal, 110-140 in the D2 championship game last year. This season, however, UCLA looks to be reestablishing themselves as the top team in the West. At Chandra Classic, ASU traveled up to Westwood where the Bruins took a win in a thriller. While no other colleges went to Heroes vs Villains Invitational as official teams, UCLA used their home tournament to gain experience for qualifiers. With UCLA looking to get back to D1 at nationals this year, hosting two tournaments before qualifiers will provide unparalleled preparation. The Bruins are hoping to repeat their results from Chandra Classic and walk away with a D1 bid, making a statement that they are the top team in the West.
UCLA has quite a young roster this season. Out of their 19 players going to Placer Valley, seven are rookies. The young roster is a good sign of things to come, not just this season but for the Bruins’ future. The player that’s made a big jump for UCLA this season is keeper Matthew Whong. Whong, who dropped 60 points against the Sun Devils, will likely need another big performance this weekend if the Bruins want to walk away with a D1 bid. Other key chasers for UCLA include Amanda Baquir, Valeria Guerra, Safdar Kilaru, Aidan Perez, and rookie Kayla Rich. Expect these five chasers to play major minutes for the Bruins and be found fluidly passing the ball around the hoops. In the beating game, UCLA mixes up pairs frequently. They often run Nathaly Bonilla and Hunter Sauls to start the game. At 20 minutes, when Sauls puts on the yellow headband, they pair Bonilla with Arjun Malhorta. UCLA has the talent to walk away with a D1 bid and the unquestioned best team in the West, but they will need a repeat Chandra Classic performance to prove it.
Must See Matchup
The Placer Valley Qualifier all comes down to one matchup; ASU vs UCLA. These two teams have a long history of playing each other and the winner will walk away with a D1 bid, while the loser will be on the outside looking-in for an at-large bid. Both teams love to score in transition, so expect this game to be fast-paced and high scoring. The main difference is in the amount of pressure each team likes to apply. The Sun Devils look to apply as much high pressure as possible. All of their beaters are not afraid to leave the keeper zone to look for a turnover. UCLA also likes to score in transition, but rather than applying high pressure to get these looks, they use their 2-2 zone to capitalize on any bad passes or early shots to speed up the pace. The UCLA beaters are not afraid to take engagements, but they tend to play more in their keeper zone on defense than the ASU beaters. If the ASU beaters can win exchanges and keep control, they will be able to generate the transition goals for the Sun Devil chasers. If UCLA can force ASU into halfcourt sets, the Bruins will capitalize on turnovers and look to break out in transition. The matchup will come down to which defense can generate more fast break opportunities. The Sun Devils and Bruins will face off in a best-of-three series, so coaching adjustments between games will be critical. Look for the non-playing coaches, Ty Walker for ASU and Christian Krieger and German Barrios for UCLA, to lead the huddle and fine-tune their teams’ game plan. If Chandra Classic is anything to go off of UCLA has the edge, but ASU was under-rostered and is primed to defend the regional throne.
Predictions
Champion: ASU
D1 Bid: ASU
D2 Bid: UCLA
