By Justice Feelgood Marshall, Last updated Tue Nov 10 2009 7:35pm

Philly | Gotham | Boston | Windy City | Madison | Detroit | Texas | Kansas City | Houston | Oly | Rocky Mountain | Denver

Houston (#3 South Central)

First bout: vs. Rocky Mountain, Friday 5:15pm

2009 WFTDA record: 5-2

2009 biggest win: 254-43 over Big Easy, January 24

2009 biggest loss: 145-76 to Kansas City, August 22

2009 closest bout: 113-101 over Dallas, September 27 (South Central Regionals)

2009 background: Houston was the least active of the 12 teams to make it to Nationals -- nearly half of their 2009 WFTDA sanctioned action came in their three bouts at South Central regionals. While they did survive a tightly-clumped second-tier of SC teams in 2009, narrowly defeating aspiring Atlanta and Dallas, they appear to not yet be functioning at the same level as the top two SC teams, Texas and KC -- Houston faced Kansas City twice in 2009 and lost by similar margins each time, 145-76 and 118-56.

Tournament history: Houston makes their first trip to Nationals this year. They did not appear at the 2007 Western Regionals, but hosted in 2008, where they were bounced in the first round by Rocky Mountain.

Lowdown: Like Madison, Houston is an exceptionally speedy team that can seriously light up a scoreboard when they have the advantage, but gets into some trouble when faced with a fast team that can play a tight defense. While Houston features some extremely hard hitters, that can also get them into trouble when intended big hits don't take out their target.

Players to watch: Death By Chocolate is one of the most athletic skaters on any roster Nationals weekend, and is a huge help to Houston's fortunes no matter what position she's playing on the track -- she's got a combination of speed, power and agility that allows her to move around the pack seemingly effortlessly. The smaller Mistilla isn't a power jammer, but has blazing away-from-pack speed that makes her a serious danger for 20+ point jams whenever she's got the star. De Mentia, though perhaps not quite as flashy as her jammer brethren, was consistently reliable for points and quietly kept Houston in their third-place bout against Dallas. In the pack, Goldie Bloxxx, Nawty Dread Locks and Miss Lead lay some thundering blocks.

Road to the championship: It's a very tough row to hoe for Houston, who would have to stop the swift rise of Rocky Mountain in the first bout and then find a way to upset East #1 seed Philly the next day. If they can manage both those upsets, they'll find themselves up against Texas, Madison or Boston in the final four.

Roster: 866 Becky Booty // 26 Brand‐aid // 37 Carmen Geddit // 80 Chainsaw Chic // 69 Death By Chocolate  //13 DeMentia // 007 Goldie Bloxx // 21 Jekyll & Heidi // 22 Miss Lead  // 16 Mistilla // 4 22 Nawty Dread Knocks // XXX Panty Raider // X Rebel Ann // 7-11 Sick Nick // 903 Sinister Sista // 3 Speed‐O // 411 Starr Doom // 6 Tex Offender  // 35 The Prosecutor // 29 Sweet Commotion