USQ Cup: Club Rankins 16-13
Voters: Soleil Heaney, Jordi Christan Sancho, Trenton Paskero, Mohamed Yahia Monawar, Chris Dorsey, Peter Lawrence, & Tim Kwan
16. Southwest Alliance 37
15. Silicon Valley Vipers 42
14. Orlando Quadball Club 44
13. Chicago United 50
16. Southwest Alliance
Existing as a contradiction, the youngest team in their region made up almost exclusively of veterans older than their competition, Southwest Alliance looks to continue to make their mark as the pot 5 team you do not want in your pool. After making it to day 2 in their rookie season, and losing handily to BosNy in the first round of bracket, the expectations can be set rather high for a team ranked this low.
After losing head coach Joey Galtelli to the Carolinas, the Alliance has had to step it up this season, letting Alec and Kiara Webber take the reigns alongside Lynne Collenbeck and Ashton “Crash” Jeanlewis. Much of their chaser production comes from outside leadership, with Francis Depano, Jimmie Evans, and recent Sam Houston grad Brandon Kubena bearing much of the load in the quadball game. To help them, long-time League City Legend Carlos Elarba and rookie Legend Caleigh Duvall will need to sling dodgeballs with the best of them.
After a season with dramatic swings between near-elite and near-college-level gameplay, Southwest Alliance will need to find a high-caliber rhythm and keep it going if they can hope to even match last season’s result, much less surpass it.
15. Silicon Valley Vipers
Finally breaking out of the pot 5 curse, Silicon Valley has broken into the ranks of the middle of the pack. After a highly successful bout of recruiting, the Vipers are the only team anywhere near their ranking to support both an A and a B program. the Vipers have been able to consistently show their drive to improve; however, after a disappointing West Qualifier performance, going 2-4 and falling to every other Club Competitive team, they will need a solid nationals performance to prove that they really can hang.
14. Orlando Quadball Club
After several rebrands and periods of uncertain futures, Orlando looks to be on the rise as a potential leader of the middle of the pack for the Club division. Comprised of some of the most experienced players to come from the South region, Orlando has star power across all positions with a strong core of female and gender non-conforming players.
In previous years Orlando has struggled to maintain a full roster, but other than OKC, the Ospreys have been in mostly full force. The pace management of keeper Jon Nettles combined with the athleticism and speed of Kaltenbaugh, Piper, and Juron in the chaser game makes for a fast and hard hitting offense to face. On the defense, beater Nathan Anthony can simultaneously resist opposing beaters whilst keeping opposing chasers at bay. The Ospreys record creates an interesting parity, with wins of SWA but a tight loss to Pegasus.
Keeping pace with the Frost and Heat is no easy feat, but despite a limited roster Orlando was still able to score more than these top teams allegedly should’ve allowed. Orlando’s performance in Round Rock is hard to predict, but they will be a threat to teams unprepared for a fight.
13. Chicago United
Having worked their way out from under Boom Train’s shadow, Chicago United stands on the precipice of their first season to make a true run into bracket play. Going into USQ Cup with an astounding 17-6 on the season, they are coming off an utterly dominating performance at the Rust Belt. With the majority of their losses from top tier teams, Boom Train and New York Slice, they are no stranger to playing high level teams and holding them to a small score gap during portions of the game.
After an extremely successful Prowl season, comprised of over 10 players within the program, practice squad included, these key pieces return (or have joined) Chicago United with nothing but grit. Beater pair and head coach Dany Yaacoub and Linnea Schultz have refined their chemistry even more, while America’s Sweethearts, Amy Zasadzinski and Scotty Rein, continue to work in tandem and lead the quadball game. Notable pickups from the Prowl practice squad include both Marcos Sandoval and Ben Dib. This crafty duo continues to develop and become a true scoring threat that all teams should be be scared of.
Even with the most depth of any team near their ranking, the challenge for CU will be if they will be able to effectively use their second and third lines to keep up the pace with their competition.
