The Blue Ridge Rollergirls (BRRG) recently defeated Brandywine Roller Derby, 257-188, to take home first place in the Division 2 International Championships in Portland, OR.
Brandywine started off strong leading 30-8, with points picked up by jammers Raggedy Aneurysm and Lurz Lemon. BRRG tightened up its defense and headed into a 66-5 scoring run. With Brandywine’s lead jammer Lurz Lemon expelled 20 minutes into the game for an egregious low block, BRRG took the upper hand. At half-time, Blue Ridge led 125-78. Brandywine returned strong in the second half, but were unable to match BRRG’s defense. In the final minutes, Lady Rider scoring 27 points in two jams before Dr. Octopushy finished the game, scoring 24 of her 129 points in the game.
The gold medal D2 game at WFTDA 2016 Championships was a re-match of D2 Wichita earlier this year where Brandywine Roller Derby from Downingtown, PA, USA took the win 146-123 against BRRG. Though defeated in Wichita, Blue Ridge returned home to train against Brandywine’s strategy.
“After Wichita, we trained to defend against Brandywine’s style of offense,” said BRRG blocker Hopi-wan, “It cost us that game and allowed them to dominate. We knew we had to be proactive to make sure that it didn’t happen again.”
Blue Ridge Rollergirls took First Place in the Division 2 Finals, with Brandywine Roller Derby coming in Second Place, and Calgary Roller Derby Association coming in Third Place. For Division 1, Rose City Rollers won the 2016 International WFTDA Championships in their hometown of Portland, OR. Gotham Girls Roller Derby came in Second Place, and Victorian Roller Derby League came in Third Place.
In 2016, the BRRG, ranked #55 of 381 WFTDA member leagues in the world, were invited to compete in the WFTDA Division 2 International Playoffs in Wichita, Kansas. Winning 3 of 4 games, the BRRG advanced to WFTDA International Championships in Portland, Oregon, where they won 2 of 2 games and rose to #43 ranking. In 2013, BRRG won their first and only championship game of the year, making them the only team to win 3-0 and the lowest seed to win first place in the history of the tournament.
For more information, visit blueridgerollergirls.com. Read recaps of all of games at Championships and see the final bracket at Tournament Central. Video archives will be available at wftda.tv and espn3.com.