The following was written by Eric Boehm, formerly of Cleveland State University.
*Disclaimer: Eric wrote solely on the teams that he watched during the tournament. This in no way is meant in offense to any of the other teams that competed in the Pinkout IV.*
Akron’s Pinkout IV was quite an event to witness! It was very evident that there’s a dominance shakeup within the state of Ohio. The teams of Ohio were battling one another for the top dog position in the state.
Baldwin Wallace
BW showed up to the tournament with seven players. However, they sure can pull their own weight even being outnumbered by the other teams! Their second match against CSU was closer than the score showed (4-0 in favor of CSU). They made the Vikings give their 100% to get their wins. They managed to make every point very close! Against UK, they managed to pull off two wins! They made Kentucky fight for their wins. With that being said, I really want to see how BW would compete with a full team in the future. They have plenty of potential.
The Ohio State University
Ohio State suffered a great loss after Jeff Starr graduated in the last season. However, they have more than enough talent to compete in the state. Both Dylan Greer and Ben Johnson proved themselves to be a great legacy. Their match against Akron was a very close game! They were inches away from taking that win from the Zips, and that’s very impressive considering they have a new leadership. Their staggering win against BGSU was quite unprecedented. They were able to keep ball control and kept control of the neutral zone. Their communication was all around excellent! Way to go Buckeyes!
Akron
Alright, this team is great. There’s no question about it. Adam Pfeifer truly is a master at running the court and individually a force to be reckoned with. He’s one of those guys you hate on the court, but one that you can’t hate off of it. The rest of the Zips showed their skill to the teams they played. Joey Stacks with his incredible throw, Josh Lyons with his great catching skills. The Zips definitely have what it takes to be a powerhouse in the state.
Cleveland State University
The Vikings had a hell of a debut into this season! They came to the tournament with an entirely new leadership! I couldn’t be more proud of them. After I graduated, Casey Brown and Freddie Kreiger took the roles of captains of the team and they have been doing a stellar job. I couldn’t be more proud of them. With Joe Walsh and Ron Moner (the guy that people said that looked like Thor) as their best throwers, then Casey Brown, Joe Kline, and Leon Rockamore as their best catchers, and a group of rookies that showed a lot of potential, the Vikings certainly has what it takes to battle for dominance in the state and nobody wants it as bad as they do. I may not be on the team anymore, but it’s an honor and a privilege to watch the Vikings grow into something more than before. They certainly made a statement on Saturday. I’m very eager to see them perform in the future. CSU is indeed a younger team, but they have solid foundation set in place for improvement. No team wants to win more than the Vikings and they will do anything they can to achieve that. With their great team chemistry and their ability to put their whole hearts into the game, the Vikings are certainly a team that should not be taken lightly. Well done, Vikings. Well done. I’m eager to see how you perform at Kent in November.
Akron def CSU 3-2
This is was one of the best matches I’ve watched and the hardest ones I’ve ever reffed. Trust me, I went out of my way to be as unbiased as possible with my calls and, unfortunately, I made some calls that my former team will never let me forget. I’ll never hear the end of it. Anyways, before this season, Akron has always been CSU’s Kryptonite which certainly weighed heavy on the Vikings’ minds. However, there was a lot of tension before the game started because of Colby’s prediction of the outcome. The prediction caused the Vikings to obtain an overwhelming amount of motivation to prove him wrong. The first point was a hard fought victory after twelve minutes for the Vikings that caused a huge hype with the team and a rude awakening for the Zips. From there, the shear intensity of the game skyrocketed. It was the battle for the 3-0 record at the tournament. In my perspective, it was a holy war. Both teams fought for their hard earned point, respectively. The first half ended with only two matches played and 1-1 on both sides. The second half, once again, consisted of hard fought victories. Both teams had phenomenal tags and made some catches that were just unbelievable. The craziest catch was from Ron Moner who managed to snag a rocketed ball at least over a foot in the air. With the score tied 2-2 and around 11 minutes left, tensions were at its highest. The last game was a battle to gain the tie breaker. Cleveland started with the upper hand, but the Zips slowly began to retain the advantage. With 17 seconds left, Akron managed to steal the win from the Vikings and the game was over. 17 seconds. The rivalry between these two teams has been set in stone. This game was, without a doubt, the most intense game I’ve ever witnessed. The Vikings suffered a great loss from the Zips, but they certainly made it clear that CSU was an entirely new animal. Despite the loss, the captains of the Vikings were extremely satisfied with their team’s performance. The solid intensity fueled their desire for that win and the resulting loss only increased their hunger for that W against Akron. They will certainly build off that loss to further better their skills and teamwork.