Home season champions, The Richmond Wrecking Belles battled The Oakland Outlaws in the first bout of the Round Robin. Both teams placed travel team skaters on the jam line to start: Chantilly Mace #26 for Richmond and Huck Sinn #10 for Oakland.
Mace exploded through the aggressive pack and obtained lead jammer status for Richmond while Oakland’s jammer acquired a major penalty, sending her to the penalty box for the standard one-minute sentence. Outlaw, Cat Scrap Fever, detained Mace in the front of the pack during her first scoring pass but “out-of play” was called and Mace was released, earning Richmond a 15-0 lead. Outlaw, Bricktator, arrested Richmond’s progress in jam two by gaining lead jammer status while Richmond jammer, Chiquita Bonanza, took a seat in the penalty box. Jam two ended with a score of 17-15, Oakland.
Control of the pack speed and position alternated between the teams, as did the success of the jammers. The Belles and Outlaws both had a three-jammer rotation. Oakland employed a light blocker rotation as well, having many blockers skate consecutive jams, such as Murderyn Monroe, Cat Scrap and Jane Hammer. Richmond consistently utilized an offensive blocking position which proved beneficial in the ‘lead-less’ last jam as Razor Grrl wrecked the Outlaw wall to help Kutya Cackoff emerge with 7 points. A nice rebuttal to the 9 points scored by seasoned jammer, Huck Sinn. The bracing, full-contact bout ended with the close score of 52-47. The Oakland Outlaws came to the track with smoking guns but were shot down and The Richmond Wrecking Belles sailed away with the win.