On January 19th, the unranked Dominion Derby Girls played in their farthest away bout to date, traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada to take on the 17th ranked Fabulous Sin City Rollergirls. The Dominion Derby Girls had had mixed luck against WFTDA ranked opponents, having lost in September to 14th ranked Boston Derby Dames but beating 25th ranked Ohio Rollergirls in November. However, Dominion went into this bout optimistic and looking for their second straight win. The Sin City team had long been a known name in the derby world and was looking to break a five game losing streak, but was coming into the night having lost two key veterans the week before the bout: captain Athena Barbital (broken leg) and Devil’s Advo-Kate (broken collarbone.)
As the bout began, things looked grim for Dominion. Sin City's jammer cruised through the pack while Dominion jammer, T.Rex Ya Face got caught behind the Sin City blockers. Before T.Rex was able to get through the pack, Sin City called off the jam, out scoring Dominion 3-0. But as the bout continued, it became obvious that this first jam was not a glimpse into what the rest of the bout would be like. With some huge jams by Dominion jammers Tsunami Tsue, Sweet N. Lowdown, T.Rex Ya Face, and, in her first bout ever, Turbovision, the first period ended with a score of Dominion 44, Sin City 8.
Although they were far behind at the end of the first period, Sin City tried to battle back during the second and third periods. With Dominion in some penalty trouble and some good jams by Sin City jammers, including Skid and newcomer Wingnut, they struggled to close the gap, but Dominion outscored the home team by an increasing amount each period: 44-8 in the first, 60-17 in the second and 65-19 in the last. By the end of the third period DDG put the final nail in the coffin with a few big jams, finishing with a score of 169-44.
At the ceremony at the end of the bout the two newcomers, Turbovision for Dominion and Wingnut for Sin City were named the bout MVPs.
Even though the focus of the bout is often on the amazing work of the jammers, the real heroes were the blockers. Dominion blockers Spontaneous Combustya, Frankendoll, and Bam Bam McCha-Cha, as well as the rest of the Dominion blockers, prevented the Sin City jammers from breaking the pack and cleared the way for their own jammers to navigate the pack with ease. The blockers for Sin City also did their part to stop the quick jammers of Dominion. Key blockers Alma Bichess and GoGo Distrukto from Sin City were able to slow the Dominion jammers at the front of the pack, but the Dominion blockers quickly stepped up to help their jammers out.
Dominion takes on its next WFTDA opponent, the Steel City Derby Demons, at home on February 17th, while Sin City looks for a win against Nevada's other league, the Battle Born Derby Demons of Reno, at home on Feburary 9th.
