Five years ago, Beth Oppenheimer could easily predict the result of each Virginia women's club ultimate frisbee contest before it was played.
With only about a dozen members, most of whom lacked experience in the sport, the team didn't even have enough people for a regulation 7-on-7 scrimmage at practice. The squad, known by its nickname of "Agent Orange," lost every game that season, making it pretty easy for Oppenheimer to pose as a clairvoyant.
Half a decade later, not much had changed for Oppenheimer, now in her final year of eligibility. Every time she and her team took the field, she could still predict the result of each game with confidence.
Except this time, Agent Orange won every single game it played.
Captained by Oppenheimer, the squad compiled a 23-0 record coming into the national tournament, where they lost for the first time all season and finished 13th. Quite a turnaround from a few years before.
"I never would have guessed that we would wind up being this good during my stint on the team," Oppenheimer said. "Back then [during my first year], we just liked to have fun. We had a few good players, but not enough to put seven quality ones on the field at the same time."
It was pretty obvious Agent Orange was a much better team Oppenheimer's fifth year than it was when she first came, but they surprised even themselves with their undefeated run throughout the year. At the beginning of their campaign, they didn't really know how well the team would fare.
"We knew to expect something different this year," freshman Andrea Durran said. "But, we didn't expect to go undefeated up until nationals."
Agent Orange did well in their first two tournaments, taking first place at Queen's City Tuneup in Charlotte, N.C., in February and continuing their perfect record against college teams by winning four games at SUNblock in Savannah, Ga. The success was not enough, however, to convince Oppenheimer that the team would be a national championship contender.
"After the first couple tournaments I thought we might have a shot, but there were always reasons why we might not make it," Oppenheimer said. "We were still working out kinks and dealing with injuries."
But the first tournament after Spring Break really opened Oppenheimer's eyes. Agent Orange was competing at the Terminus tournament in Atlanta at the tail end of the week-long vacation. Because of the timing of the competition, only a dozen players decided to travel to the tournament.
Though heavily undermanned, Agent Orange was still able to prevail, winning all seven games to take home the title.
"That win really made a big difference," Oppenheimer said. "It made us realize that, even with only 12 people, we were really able to get the job done."
There seemed to be no stopping Agent Orange, as they ran the gauntlet at College Easterns and Blue Ridge Sectionals to stay undefeated going into Atlantic Coast Regionals. A first or second place finish would earn them a spot at Nationals -- anything else would mean the end of their season.
Agent Orange easily won their first four games, but the tournament's fifth contest was more of a nail-biter. N.C. State played them close throughout in their most competitive game of the year, but the ladies in orange prevailed, winning 11-9. They took down N.C. State again in the finals, this time by a more comfortable 12-7 margin, to win the title and a berth in the national tournament in Seattle.
The only problem was they didn't have enough money to get there.
As a club sport, the women's club ultimate frisbee team receives a limited amount of funds from the University, $245 to be exact. The entry fee alone to most tournaments is $200 and Agent Orange usually plays four or five of those each season. With travel and lodging expenses on top of that, University funds only make up a small fraction of regular season expenses, let alone plane tickets for the entire team out to the West Coast.
To solve their financial difficulties, Agent Orange held a bar night and conducted a silent auction. Several local residents and vendors in Charlottesville agreed to help, and the team raised enough money to make it to Seattle.
"We definitely had more stuff up for auction than I thought we would have," incoming team president Laura Berman said. "The Charlottesville community, and especially those who play ultimate, have been incredibly supportive of us."
Once Agent Orange got out to Nationals, however, their dream run finally came to an end. Expected to finish in the top five, Agent Orange started the tournament off well with wins over Illinois and Penn State but fell to Stanford, Brown and Iowa before salvaging a 15-10 win over Rutgers to finish in 13th place.
The season may have ended on a somewhat disappointing note for Agent Orange, but the future should be a bright one for the program. Among the returning players for next season is Durran, who won the ACC Freshman of the Year award last season.
"There are a lot of people waiting in the wings who are ready to step up," the departing Oppenheimer said. "It's not just about having one good season anymore with this team. It has developed into a strong college program that will be able to compete every year."
And that's another prediction of Oppenheimer's you can count on coming true.
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