Club Dodgeball: Finishing up fall semester strong, recruiting for winter
Posted on Monday, November 11th, 2013 by: Chris Oliver in the Valley Vanguard
Despite only fielding 11 players against teams of 15 during the weekend, the dodgeball club posted a 2-2 record in its road trip to Miami, OH.
Team captain Max Siler said despite having no depth and having to play four games, his team competed well, and he thinks the results would be better if circumstances played out differently.
“We played every game at a four-man disadvantage, and we still pulled off two wins,” Siler said. “The games we lost were to Grand Valley State and James Madison, who are ranked No. 1 and No.2.
“Against James Madison, if we would have had a full squad, I have no doubt we would have won.”
SVSU beat Western Kentucky, 3-0, and Miami (OH), 5-1, before falling to Grand Valley State University, 4-0, and James Madison, 3-1. Siler said the game against James Madison started with the Cardinals coming out firing and showing once again why they’re a force to contend with going forward.
“Right now, we are the hottest team in the league with how we’re playing,” Siler said. “If you look at our losses, we’ve lost to Grand Valley three times, and they’re ranked first.
“Our other losses were James Madison and Kent State who are both top five teams.”
Currently, the Cardinals are ranked fourth in the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association (NCDA) with a 7-5 record. Grand Valley State University, James Madison, Kent State and the University of Wisconsin Platteville round out the top five.
Siler added that individual performances powered the Cardinal to their two wins during the weekend, fighting through exhaustion through each game.
“We had a ton of contribution from our underclassmen, like sophomores Joe McCumber and Blake Grivetti,” Siler said. “Spencer Jardine played well, as always and Stephanie Faloticio came up in the clutch multiple times with big catches when we needed them.”
Going forward, the winter semester has more action planned for the dodgeball club, and Siler said that anyone interested in joining can come to practice.
“The second semester of the year is always great for picking up talented new recruits,” Siler said. “Some of our best players this year joined last winter and have become even better.”
Practices are held in the Cardinal Gym every Monday and Wednesday at 10 p.m.
“Anyone can join as long as you want to make a commitment to the team,” Siler said. “I encourage anyone interested to come out and check it out.”
Siler also mentioned that the dodgeball club is doing a special event in January.
“We want to host an alumni game where past dodgeball players can come back and play the current team,” Siler said. “We did it last winter semester, but due to the timing didn’t quite have the turnout we’d like.
“With more planning and better timing, we think this time it should be a big hit.”