Bombshells end season with bang

By LILLIAN PALMER

Staff Writer

The Bittersweet Bombshells finished their roller derby season with a bang, and wrecked the Wild West Wreckers of Sheridan, Saturday. The bout finished with Bombshell’s score of 179 to the Wreckers’ 66.

The Bombshells latest win totals four wins out of their six bouts played in the 2015 season. Compared to their zero wins in the 2014 season, they’ve shown great progress.

“I thought we played really well,” Bombshell blocker Genny Luckau said. “As a team it was one of our best performances yet, working together and employing everything we practiced.”

Luckau said they utilized various skills and strategies they’ve used during practice much more than they have in previous bouts. She said they usually remember them after the fact, but not this time. They put them to use, and won.

One pack technique they used in the match was bridging.

“I think that is something we pulled off very well during the bout,” Luckau said.

Bridging is expanding the length of the pack, she said. Bridging is spacing a continuous line ten feet away from each other from the pack. Luckau said this requires a lot of trust between team members, relying on each other to do their jobs. When bridging, a team member will stop engaging with the jammer and let the next team member take over.

Another good blocker technique Luckau says aided them in their win Saturday is driving the jammer off the track.

“Once we initiate contact and hit an opposing player, we continue to drive them off the track versus hitting and stopping,” Luckau said.

The job of blockers is to stop the opposing team’s jammer from passing them on the track. Blocking is a lot of timing; patiently waiting for the right moment to strike. It is crucial not to engage with the incoming jammer too early or too late.

“I’ve had my moments when I totally missed the jammer,” Luckau said.

Luckau says if blockers are patient and reading the moment correctly, they are able to initiate correctly.

“That moment is energy. Something clicks and you know its time to go,” Luckau said.