Ultiworld’s 2021 Catch Of The Year Bracket Semifinals, Presented by Friction Gloves

The final four. Time to pick the top two.

February 23, 2022 by in Awards, Opinion with 0 comments

Ultiworld’s 2021 Catch of the Year bracket is presented by Friction Gloves; all opinions are those of the author. Want to make highlights of your own? Try Friction Gloves!

One of our most popular series to begin each year, it’s time to look back at last year and let our readers decide some of the top plays of the year from 2021.

We begin by deciding the champion of our Catch of the Year bracket. We watched many hours of game footage and highlight reels to hunt down the catches, completions, grabs, snags, and everything else; believe us, there were more than enough options to fill up this bracket, so even some worthy nominees were left on the cutting room floor. Over the next week, we’re inviting you, the Ultiworld readers, to vote for your favorite of the finalists selected.

Check out all of the nominees and vote below, then check back to see which clips advance for another opportunity to participate. Semifinal round voting starts now and closes on Thursday, February 24th at 4 PM Eastern.

Jorgensen vs. Hecko

Sandy Jorgensen – Washington DC Sweet Cat (USAU Club)

Sandy Jorgensen

Jorgensen’s vicious overhead snag earned a spot in the semifinals with a narrow victory over Jeff Babbitt’s regionals game winner with 53% of the vote. Those were two big reputations for posterizing going head to head. Now Jorgensen gets a young up and comer who is a budding aerial specialist herself.

Abby Hecko – Washington Element (USAU College)

Abby Hecko

It’s unclear who was more challenged by this matchup: the voters or the participants. Hecko emerged the champion, gettting 52% of the votes, and probably gloated in the family group chat. Winning the Seattle head-to-head is cool, but how about beating a legend? That’s real bragging rights.

Lippincottt vs. Rhyne

Kody Lippincott – Arizona Sidewinders (WUL)

Kody Lippincott

The only dominant round one performance was Lippincott’s. Looks like the explosiveness of a layout grab was a more powerful sway than a clutch catch in a pack. Was there a SportsCenter boost? Maybe. But with how far Lippincott was out — literally and figuratively — she didn’t need it.

Jordan Rhyne – Philadelphia AMP (USAU Club)

Jordan Rhyne

This one stirred up the most controversy in the Ultiworld Discord, as the Gordon catch that Rhyne’s flying sky outperformed had some ardent supporters. But with a 52-48 percent margin, its the AMP representative that will be bursting into the final four, like he did into the picture for this play.