On January 18, the Fort Wayne Derby Girls’ Bomb Squad, traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan to take on the 61st-ranked Grand Raggidy All Stars.
The bout was off to an exciting start as Fort Wayne jammer Speedin Bayou spun around Grand Raggidy pivot Xtreme Tac and skated backwards out of the pack for lead jammer. A Fort Wayne 3-wall of Enya Grave, Majestic, and Rachel Tension held back Grand Raggidy jammer Lucy Morales and allowed Speedin to score a few points before calling off the jam.
Fort Wayne and Grand Raggidy battled for points for the first few jams. In the sixth jam of the period, Fort Wayne’s Jungle McLuvin’ hit Grand Raggidy jammer Ultra Fox to the outside, landing them both on the ground, but slowing Ultra Fox down enough for Fort Wayne jammer Kellie Adkins to earn lead, along with a few points for the Bomb Squad. In the next jam, Speedin Bayou had no trouble zipping past the two remaining Grand Raggidy blockers for lead. Fort Wayne blockers Jungle McLuvin’, Kellie Adkins, Rachel Tension, and Top Shelf worked together to hold back Grand Raggidy jammer Xtreme Tac, while Speedin lapped her twice before calling it off.
There was a long struggle for lead in the eleventh jam of the period, as Speedin Bayou got knocked out repeatedly by the Grand Raggidy blockers, being recycled to the back of the pack each time. Meanwhile, Fort Wayne blockers dwindled when Top Shelf was sent to the penalty box for a hit on Grand Raggidy jammer Xtreme Tac, followed by penalties on Jungle McLuvin’ and Rachel Tension. Xtreme Tac attempted to jump the apex around Oreo SlamHer, but Oreo knocked her to ground mid-air, forcing her to the back of the pack, and minimizing Grand Raggidy’s score for the jam.
The Bomb Squad put up a fight for the rest of the first period to narrow the scoring gap. The first half ended at a very close Fort Wayne 77 to Grand Raggidy 79.
The second half began with Grand Raggidy earning lead jammer for the first five jams of the period, allowing them to put up an additional 32 points. In the tenth jam of the period, Kellie Adkins earned lead with some offensive help from Majestic. Grand Raggidy jammer Mona Vaydid struggled behind a Fort Wayne 4-wall of Mayhem, Oreo SlamHer, Majestic, and Speedin Bayou. Adkins received a penalty, resulting in a Grand Raggidy power jam. Mona Vaydid finally busted through the Fort Wayne defense and earned 18 points for her team. Mayhem and Oreo did their best to slow down Mona Vaydid, allowing Akins to return to the jam and score one grand slam pass before the jam clock ran out.
The final jam of the period began with both teams’ jammers receiving penalties before lead was established. Enya Grave and Grand Raggidy’s Lucy Morales raced to the box, with Lucy Morales arriving first by mere seconds. After returning to the track, Lucy Morales scored three grand slam passes while Enya struggled behind a group of Grand Raggidy blockers.
The Fort Wayne Bomb Squad lost by a score of 119 to Grand Raggidy’s 216.