Ultiworld’s 2022 Block Of The Year Bracket (Round 3)

Help decide the best recorded block of 2022.

January 20, 2023 by Ultiworld in Awards, Opinion with 0 comments

Ultiworld’s 2022 Block of the Year bracket is presented by Spin Ultimate; all opinions are those of the author(s). Find out how Spin can get you, and your team, looking your best this season.

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 2022.

Next up is Block of the Year. We watched many hours of game footage and asked for help from the community to hunt down the catches, completions, throws, shots, blocks, deflections, and everything else. This was a big year for ultimate with more than enough options to fill up this bracket, so even some worthy candidates were left behind.

We have a new system to select the victor for 2022: a voting triumvirate of the community at large, our staff, and our subscribers. Over the next week, we’re inviting you, the Ultiworld readers, to vote for your favorite of the finalists selected. It’ll be best of three in those categories to decide the winner.

Check out all of the nominees and vote below, then check back to see which clips advance for another opportunity to participate. The third round of voting starts now and closes on Monday, January 23 at noon Eastern.

Matchup 1: Cardenas vs. Meckstroth

A theme for this round, which Round 1’s Kervick vs. Ancelin result previewed, was that the community’s opinion had diverged from the subscribers’ and the staff’s. That was very pronounced for both of these matchups. Cardenas and Meckstroth were both clear winners in our Discord polling, but were absolutely routed by Nguyen and Zhou, respectively, in the public polls. Candidly, perhaps we’ll revisit this system for next year, but for now, rules are rules and the subs have spoken!

Manuela Cardenas – Denver Molly Brown (USAU Club)

Manuela Cardenas

Sarah Meckstroth – Raleigh Radiance (PUL)

Sarah Meckstroth

Matchup 2: Babbitt vs. Cooper

Joining Cardenas and Meckstroth as “advanced by the subscribers and staff” is Cooper’s layout handblock, which advanced despite a sizable public preference for Ancelin. It came down to a very narrow win for the Pitt defender in the staff ballot. Babbitt was the lone unanimous winner, the only uniting force of the round.

Jeff Babbitt – New York PoNY (International Club)

Jeff Babbitt

Myles Cooper – Pittsburgh En Sabah Nur (USAU College)

Myles Cooper