Kevin Bailey – Page 15

Reviewing the 2016 MDC

Grand Valley State University won the 2016 Michigan Dodgeball Cup with a 3-0 record.

On Feb. 27^th, Michigan State University hosted the annual Michigan Dodgeball Cup. In attendance were all four Michigan schools: Central Michigan, Grand Valley State, Michigan State, and Saginaw Valley State. The stakes were higher than ever, as all four teams were positioned in the top six of the NCDA Standings. In fact, the schools had a combined record of 51-21 heading into the event, with exactly zero of those 21 losses coming at the hands of a team outside the state of Michigan.

The dominance of the Michigan Region is still alive and well, and anyone who may try to dispute that should take a look at that fact I just mentioned. Michigan schools this season are a combined 30-0 against teams from other regions. And there is a very real chance that at the end of the year, no non-Michigan team picks up a win over a Michigan Region team. I highly doubt that has ever happened before. Continue reading “Reviewing the 2016 MDC”

Chaos Continues…

Who Benefits Most from the MDC & BEAST?

GVSU Dodgeball won the Michigan Dodgeball Cup on Feb. 27th.

Anyone who follows the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association closely knows that saying this season has been confusing is an understatement. There have been huge shifts in the NCDA Standings throughout the year, and as we prepare for them to come out on Tuesday, March 1st, there are certain to be some big changes in store.

This past weekend, the Michigan Region teams competed in the annual Michigan Dodgeball Cup hosted by Michigan State. Over on the East Coast, the second half of their season finally kicked off, as five teams took part in the rescheduled BEAST V tournament held at James Madison.

Both of these tournaments involved some exciting match-ups, and both had upsets. While we all are trying to recover from another stellar weekend of dodgeball, let me help pick up the pieces from this confusing set of tournaments by giving you my list of five teams that benefited most from this weekend of chaos:

Continue reading “Chaos Continues…”

BEAST V Preview

On Sunday, Feb. 28th, James Madison University will play host to four other East Coast Region schools in the fifth annual BEAST Tournament. BEAST V was scheduled for earlier this year, but due to gym renovations at JMU, the tourney was rescheduled for the 28th. Despite this sudden change, JMU managed to get a 5-team event planned, and it should be a very telling weekend for East Coast dodgeball. Here is a brief game-by-game preview of BEAST V with brief analysis and predictions from Sean Smith (TU) and myself:

Continue reading “BEAST V Preview”

The Michigan Region’s Undeniable Parity

On Feb. 27th, four schools will battle it out in the most anticipated Michigan Dodgeball Cup of all-time.

It is no secret that the Michigan Region has been the best region in the country for a long, long time. In fact, the national champion has been a team from the Great Lakes State each of the past nine seasons.

In a way, I want to simply state that this season should be no different; as there is a chance the title game features two Michigan schools. Historically, the Michigan Dodgeball Cup winner enters April as the favorite to win it all. The difference between this season and seasons in the past is that there is an unbelievable level of parity surrounding the NCDA’s top region. The Michigan Dodgeball Cup will take place on Feb. 27, and if you have been following the league at all this season, you know that it is going to be impossible to predict.

Here is an inside look at the incredibly confusing 2015-16 NCDA season in the Michigan Region:

Continue reading “The Michigan Region’s Undeniable Parity”

King of the Mountain Recap

This weekend Central Michigan University hosted the King of the Mountain dodgeball tournament. At this event we saw schools from Michigan, Ohio, and even Wisconsin in attendance. There were a lot of questions heading into the event, and I came away with quite a bit of insight on the teams that made the trip to Mt. Pleasant for a great tournament. Below I have the scores from the tournament and some of my takeaways from the event as a whole: Continue reading “King of the Mountain Recap”

Top Ten Midseason East Coast Players

The following was written by Jonathan Shaw of Towson:

Doug Schilling - JMU — Doug Schilling – JMU

Doug Schilling – JMU – I really don’t want to boost Mr. Schilling’s ego any more. Unfortunately in my opinion he is the best player on the East Coast. The things I don’t like about Doug’s game: The Money sign he gives after he makes a play. The things I like about Doug’s game: Literally everything else. This man is comparable to Kevin Bailey in terms of his all-around game being exceptional. His arm is easily the most hard to pick up on the east coast. First off his southpaw throw is something that most players just aren’t accustomed to seeing, secondly and most importantly once he releases his throw the ball tends to veer in multiple directions. The closest thing I could compare it to would be when a pitcher throws a really good knuckleball from the mound, and you see it from the batter’s box move both ways laterally. It’s literally almost impossible to pick up. To sum it up: Doug is a stud on the court, and when he is in his team is always in it.

Continue reading “Top Ten Midseason East Coast Players”

King of the Mountain Dodgeball Tournament Preview

On February 6th, Central Michigan University will host their second home tournament in as many weeks with the “King of the Mountain” Tournament. In attendance will be a good variety of schools from around the Midwest. CMU will welcome Saginaw Valley State and Grand Valley State from Michigan, Kent State, Ohio, and Akron from the state of Ohio, and Wisconsin Platteville will also be making the trip to Mt. Pleasant for this event.

All in all, this will be a great mix of teams both in terms of the NCDA region they represent, and they level of talent which they possess. There should be some very entertaining games during this event. Here is a brief team-by-team preview: Continue reading “King of the Mountain Dodgeball Tournament Preview”

Most-Improved Team (Michigan Region Players)

Cetral Michigan's Zach Bachner and Joe Kobus cracked my list of 15 most-improved players in the state of Michigan. — Central Michigan’s Zach Bachner and Joe Kobus cracked my list of 15 most-improved players in the state of Michigan.

At the halfway point in the 2015-16 season I have unfortunately only had the opportunity to see a few out-of-state schools in action. Due to this lack of knowledge on those teams I decided to keep my “most-improved team” comprised solely of players from the state of Michigan. This list is not necessarily the top 15 players this year, or the most popular players in the state (in fact many of these players are not very well known at all), but more importantly, these are the 15 guys from the Michigan Region that have shown the most improvement over the last year in my opinion. In alphabetical order, here is my state of Michigan “Most-Improved Team”: Continue reading “Most-Improved Team (Michigan Region Players)”

Mid-Season Review

The NCDA’s 2015-16 season is currently at its halfway point, and it has been quite the first half to the season! There have been more close matches / overtime games than I can ever remember for the first half of the year. No one team is too dominant for the rest, and many of the new up and coming teams are making serious progress. The stage is set for a very interesting second semester of dodgeball! Here is a brief overview of the situation in each region at the midway point in the 2015-16 NCDA season: Continue reading “Mid-Season Review”

Spartan Invite Preview

*This is the first of three previews for the Spartan Invite. Previews from Colin O’Brien and Jacob Leski will be published in the near future.

The Michigan State Spartans are off to a great start this season. The Spartan Invite will be yet another opportunity to prove they are one of the best teams in the nation.

This Sunday, Michigan State University is set to host the annual Spartan Invite at IM West. Michigan State along with Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, DePaul, Bowling Green State, and Kent State will take part in a big-time tournament.

As we close in on the end of the fall semester, this tournament will likely determine who the top dog in the NCDA is at the halfway point in the season. All eyes will be on the matches that take place between MSU, GVSU, and CMU. Each of these teams has beaten the others at least once so far this fall. The circle of parity at the top of the league is more severe than in years past, but there is still over half a season left. If any of these schools has plans of distancing themselves to become the #1 team in the league, this tournament will certainly be a strong stepping stone in that effort.

Bragging rights will be on the line Sunday when MSU, GVSU, CMU, BGSU, DePaul, and Kent face off in the annual Spartan Invite. Here are my predictions for this weekend’s matches:

Continue reading “Spartan Invite Preview”

Death Valley Invitational Preview

This Sunday, Saginaw Valley State University will host their first home tournament of the 2015 season when Central Michigan, Michigan State, Bowling Green State, and Ohio make the trip to SVSU’s campus for the Death Valley Invitational (props to whoever chose the name for this event).

The schedule for this tournament is listed below, with a few comments and predictions included by yours truly.

Continue reading “Death Valley Invitational Preview”

University of Akron’s “Pink Out”

Written by: Adam Pfeifer [Akron]

The University of Akron hosted the first annual Pink Out tournament over the weekend which had 3 teams attend. 3 of the 4 teams had roughly the same skill level, that being Akron OU and BW, and Kent State being the outlier. Baldwin Wallace came into the tournament ranked 14^th, Akron ranked 15^th, Ohio university ranked 16^th and Kent state ranked 6^th Continue reading “University of Akron’s “Pink Out””

Grand Valley Gauntlet Preview

This Sunday, Grand Valley State University will play host to some of the top teams in the nation in the Grand Valley Gauntlet dodgeball tournament. This event will feature the four Michigan schools along with Bowling Green State and Kentucky. Due to late two schools dropping out of the tournament, there will not be as many great match-ups played this weekend, but there certainly will be a few. Continue reading “Grand Valley Gauntlet Preview”

BOTM: 2015 September

September Baller of the Month: Matt Bautch (UWP)

This month’s BOTM goes to Wisconsin Platteville’s star player: Matt Bautch. As an individual, Matt had a spectacular first month to the season, leading his team to victory over DePaul in the Pioneer Classic, and then performing very well in the Grand Valley Gauntlet a week later.

Matt has proved to be one of the top arms in the league, but his improved catching is what has transformed him into a likely All-American choice. Playing for am inexperienced team this year, Matt has had to carry much of the load for UWP, and he did just that in games against SVSU and GVSU, where he proved to be the most valuable player on the court.

Here is my conversation with UWP’s star player. He explains his teams efforts to compete against a variety of teams this year, their successful trip to Nationals in 2015, and a ver bold prediction on how far he believes Platteville will make it at Nationals 2016. Continue reading “BOTM: 2015 September”

Grand Valley Gauntlet #1 Recap

On Saturday, September 26th Grand Valley State University played host to Saginaw Valley State and Wisconsin Platteville in an early season round robin tournament. GVSU went 2-0 on the day with SVSU splitting 1-1 and UWP going 0-2. The following is a quick recap with my reactions from this event. Continue reading “Grand Valley Gauntlet #1 Recap”