Erica Testa, Stacie Bourbeau, and Lindsey Monto (not pictured is the fourth team member Kim Storey)
In the New England Women Pool Alliance’s second team event, the $500-added Anchorperson Challenge, four mixed-geography teams of four women competed against each other in a first stage series of best two-out-of-three round robin, 8-ball matches. At the conclusion of this first stage, a single representative (best record from first stage) from each of the teams (the anchorwoman) competed in a best three-out-of-five set of round robin matches. The format was altered slightly to accommodate four teams instead of the planned-for eight teams around which the event was initially planned.
At the end of the first stage and based on potential point allocation for games won in the second stage, it was mathematically possible for any one of the four teams to win the event as they moved into that second stage. Victorious Secret (Sam Barrett, Nicole Albergeria, Dawn Fanning and Becca Sue Phillis) emerged from the first stage, ahead by two points (11-9; each match won by a player earned her team a single point), but in the anchorwoman challenge set of matches, Bad Ass Bitches’ Stacie Bourbeau won nine out of the 10 games she played to chalk up another nine points for her team (Erica Testa, Lindsey Monto & Kim Storey) and win the event for them; 19-13, over Victorious Secret. The event drew its four teams/16 women to Amazin’ Billiards in Malden, MA on Sunday, May 23.
During the second stage of the event, the players not involved in that stage squared off in a consolation event; a single elimination bracket with 12 women. Two women, members of what turned out to be the top two teams, were to have squared off in the finals of this event – Lindsey Monto from Bad Ass Bitches and Nicole Albergeria from Victorious Secret. But in the end, they chose not to play a final match and split the $200 in total consolation prize money. They also turned down an opportunity to play a single ‘bragging rights’ match.
In the opening stage of the event, Hot Pockets (Lida Mullendore, Stef Brownstein, Kayleen Gray and Tina DeLima) played against Victorious Secret. Victorious Secret won 24 of the 41 games they played against Hot Pockets, earning 11 points to Hot Pockets’ 5. Stef Brownstein won six of the 17 games for Hot Pockets and represented the team in the second stage. Sam Barrett and Nicole Albergeria chalked up 16 of their team’s 24 games (eight each). Though tied for total games won, it was Barrett who advanced to the second stage for Victorious Secret, because she had lost one less game than Albergeria.
The Tonkin Team/Bad Ass Bitches round robin ended with a little closer score. The BAB won 22 of the 41 games they played against the Tonkin Team (Stacey Tonkin, Pam Fiahlo, Emily Cady and Dawn Luz) and nine of the 16 points awarded. Stacie Bourbeau and Lindsey Monto each won seven games, but Monto lost one more, which sent Bourbeau to stage two. Emily Cady won eight games for the Tonkin team and advanced to the second stage.
The races were a bit longer in the second stage (best three out of five) and the point distribution for winning was a little different; a first win earned a single point, a second earned three points and a third earned four points. Bourdeau went undefeated in the stage, earning nine points for the Bad Ass Bitches (18 total), four more than Sam Barrett earned for Victorious Secret (13 total). Emily Cady from The Tonkin Team (7 total) and Stef Brownstein from Hot Pockets (5 total) earned four points each.
Event director Katie Fiorilla thanked the ownership and staff at Amazin’ Billiards, as well as sponsors who contributed money to the prize fund and other aspects of making the event happen, including Mazin Schooni, the NE 9-Ball Series, AZBilliards, Emily Cady, Dawn Luz and the Tonkin Tour.
The next event of the New England Women’s Pool Alliance will be a fund raiser in August (exact date to be determined) in August. As a fund-raising event, it will be open to all genders. Later, in the fall (at another exact date to be determined), the NEWPA will sponsor an event that will be a women’s event, a domestic violence awareness event.
