Ultiworld’s 2021 Block Of The Year Semifinals

A dramatic first round means we could be in for quite a Block bracket.

March 9, 2022 by in Awards, Opinion with 0 comments

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

First up this year is our Block of the Year bracket. We watched many hours of game footage and highlight reels to hunt down the best defensive plays we could find; 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. Now we’re inviting you, the Ultiworld readers, to vote for your favorite of the finalists selected.

On to the bracket and the candidates. The second round of voting starts now and closes on Thursday, March 10 at 4PM Eastern.

Cardenas vs. Searles-Bohs

Valeria Cardenas – Medellin RevoPro (PUL)

Valeria Cardenas

In a first that we had never seen, Valeria Cardenas’ block had to go into overtime with Ben Jagt’s in round one, as each had the exact same number of votes. The extra few hours of voting did little to separate the two, but Cardenas did earn enough of a margin to advance. After all of the drama, will that energize or fatigue the voting fanbase?

Liam Searles-Bohs – North Carolina Darkside (USAU College)

Liam Searles-Bohs

The only matchup that wasn’t close in the first round was Searles-Bohs’, who took home two-thirds of the votes against Ed Brown in round one. The UNC star is one of three Raleigh representatives still in the bracket. Is the community defense-first or have a lot of sway, or perhaps its both?

Culton vs. Rippe

Dawn Culton – North Carolina Pleaides (USAU College)

Dawn Culton

North Carolina fight!!!!!!! Get your popcorn ready as two of the most able defenders from the UNC and Raleigh circles square off. Culton made it out of a strong matchup against Bansfield with 56% of the matchup’s votes. We’ll see which star in the Pleiades constellation shone brighter.

Mary Rippe – Raleigh Phoenix (USAU Club)

Mary Rippe

If teams and ultimate communities are like families, this is something if a sibling rivalry. Like Culton, Rippe makes her bones on defense, and she also won her matchup with 56% of its votes. Identical tallies just is another parallel to make this round’s results all the more unpredictable.