Tag: gvsu

Rectification Tournament Preview

Yes, Wisconsin Platteville’s name was left off this tournament banner. Picture Credit: GVSU Club Sports

The following article was co-authored by Chief of Content Kevin Bailey and Erik Zander (UWP Captain).

This Sunday, Grand Valley State University will host one of the most anticipated late season tourneys prior to Nationals.  In attendance will be some of the top dodgeball teams in the country.  GVSU will obviously be there to protect their home court.  Central Michigan will also be in attendance, looking to avenge their most recent loss to the Lakers.  Along with these two top teams, Michigan State will make the trip to Allendale as they look to make some improvements heading into Nationals.  Wisconsin Platteville will travel around the coast of Lake Michigan up to GVSU’s campus after competing in Chicago just last weekend.  And lastly, Saginaw Valley State will be in attendance, with an opportunity to play against GVSU and CMU for the first time since the fall.  Along with these five NCDA teams, there will also be a Grand Valley Alumni Team participating in the tournament, with exhibition games scheduled vs. CMU, MSU, and GVSU.

Below, Erik Zander and Kevin Bailey will discuss each official matchup at Rectification, and will provide predictions as well:

Continue reading “Rectification Tournament Preview”

2018 Michigan Dodgeball Cup Preview

Photo Credit - Alan Holben
The 14th Annual Michigan Dodgeball Cup will take place this Sunday at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.

This Sunday, Michigan State University will host one of the most significant tournaments of the season: The 14th Annual Michigan Dodgeball Cup.  In attendance this year will be 3 of the top 10 teams in the country according to the official NCDA Standings (and the most recent power rankings).

#1 Central Michigan (also #1 in the Power Rankings), #2 Grand Valley State (#2 PR), and #10 Michigan State (#8 PR) all bring a different dynamic to this tournament, as it promises to be an intriguing set of games.

Before we get into the preview, the schedule for this tournament is listed below:

10:15 a.m. – MSU vs. GVSU

11:30 a.m. – CMU vs. MSU

12:45 p.m. – GVSU vs. CMU

Now, on to the preview.  Let’s start by talking briefly about each team in attendance. Continue reading “2018 Michigan Dodgeball Cup Preview”

King of the Mountain Tournament 2

Well, it is the weekend and that means it is tournament time with some of the top teams in the country going head to head at the King of the Mountain 2.  This means it is time for another preview by the top content writer in the NCDA. (I know Kevin Bailey, Colby Briceland, and Hunter Ford are jealous, as they should be).

The teams in attendance are: Central Michgan University (CMU), Grand Valley State University (GVSU), Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU), James Madison University, (JMU), and the University of Wisconsin Platteville (UWP). These teams are currently ranked: CMU #1, GVSU #2, JMU #3, SVSU #6, and UWP #10. Here is the schedule for this Saturday, November 4, 2017, at the Student Activity Center (360 E Broomfield St. Mount Pleasant, MI 48858).

Court 1 Court 2 Referee
11:00 CMU vs GVSU SVSU vs JMU UWP
12:10 CMU vs JMU UWP vs GVSU SVSU
1:20 CMU vs UWP SVSU vs GVSU JMU
2:30 GVSU vs JMU UWP vs SVSU CMU

Continue reading “King of the Mountain Tournament 2”

Michigan Region 2017-18 Season Preview

College Dodgeball, welcome back… you’ve been missed!  The 2017-18 season will be underway soon. In the meantime, let’s kick off a series of articles previewing each NCDA Region one by one.  Today I’ll briefly preview what to expect this season in the Michigan Region.  Enjoy:

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BOTM: 2017 March

March Baller of the Month: Ben Tubergen – GVSU

After leading Grand Valley State University to yet another Michigan Dodgeball Cup title, along with a strong showing at GVSU’s Blast from the Past tournament, Ben Tubergen earned himself “Baller of the Month”.  Ben has emerged this year as one of the most dangerous players in the league with a strong and accurate throw, to go along with good catching skills.  He has been a catalyst for GVSU’s offense so far this season, and will be a key to their success in a few weeks when they compete at Nationals 2017 in Lexington, KY.

I had the chance to chat with Ben after he won Baller of the Month.  Our conversation touches on a number of topics, from his mindset heading into Nationals, to his dodgeball career outside of the NCDA, to the controversy over what grade he is actually in.  I even ask him the ever-important question: “Chipotle or Qdoba?”.  Here is my interview with GVSU’s Ben Tubergen. Continue reading “BOTM: 2017 March”

MSU vs. GVSU Doubleheader Recap

Today in East Lansing, two Michigan schools took part in a double header that will likely be the last Michigan v. Michigan games prior to the Michigan Dodgeball Cup (MDC).

Michigan State played host to Grand Valley in the second doubleheader of the season for these two teams.

The results from the doubleheader are as follows:

MSU def GVSU 2-1 (OT)

GVSU def MSU 3-0

Here are my picks for the most notable players from today’s matches:

Continue reading “MSU vs. GVSU Doubleheader Recap”

Guess Who’s Back? Doubleheader Preview

The two top ranked teams in the NCDA square off in East Lansing this Saturday for a doubleheader showdown. Currently, GVSU leads the season series 2-1 (we don’t need to talk about the all-time series lead, just go read Kevin Bailey’s most recent article if you want to witness the bloodbath). This will likely be the only time any Michigan schools face off this semester before the Michigan Dodgeball Cup, so a strong performance Saturday for either team could make them a strong favorite to take home the cup on February 19th. Here’s a preview of the two teams and some predictions for who will come out victorious.

Continue reading “Guess Who’s Back? Doubleheader Preview”

GVSU’s victories in 1000 Matches

The data covered here only covers ranked matches played through the seven seasons of 2011 to 2017, specifically 2010-09-25 to 2016-10-10. In that time we’ve played 1002 ranked matches and recorded 1084 line item events. For the purposes of these articles, we’ll only cover those 1002 matches.

Of the 1002 ranked matches we’ve recorded, GVSU has won 89% of the time, going 146-18 including going 9-4 in Overtime. Whenever GVSU loses, it’s 90th percentile news.

I should note this winning tradition basically begins from their first year back in 2006, one of the most successful of any first year team. GVSU did have an undefeated season prior to complete record keeping started on 2010-09-25. Interestingly, GVSU’s winning tradition spans almost all member teams that have ever participated in the NCDA. They have recorded wins on all Member Teams save just a few:  Continue reading “GVSU’s victories in 1000 Matches”

MVEC Preview

     

Oh man, what do I even say about this tournament? It feels like ever since JMU hit the national scene about five years ago that the players between these two conferences have been clamoring for a regular season blowout tournament. Ok, maybe not a blowout, but people have been hoping that as the East Coast Conference has risen the teams over here would be able to face their Midwest counterparts during the regular season. There have been some regular season matchups before (BEAST and other various tournaments), but this marks the first time I can remember that multiple teams from either region have travelled the distance to the other. Saturday looks to be a barometer for a lot of teams heading into April and Nationals. Let’s take a look at the matchups.

Continue reading “MVEC Preview”

Mark Your Calendars for March 26th

Sean Smith and the Towson Tigers will play host to many of the top teams in the country on March 26th in the first ever "MVEC" tournament.
Sean Smith and the Towson Tigers will host many of the top teams in the country on March 26th in the first ever “MVEC” tournament.

In less than a month Towson will play host to one of the most anticipated East Coast tournaments in NCDA history.  The first ever MVEC (Michigan Versus the East Coast) will take place at Towson University on Saturday, March 26th. This tournament will come only a few weeks prior to Nationals, and it should be very telling of where teams stand leading up to the season’s final event.  Below I have listed the attending teams, a few storylines to follow, and the recently released tournament schedule.  Take a look:

 

Teams in attendance at MVEC:

#1 Grand Valley State
#3 Michigan State
#5 James Madison
#8 Towson
#11 Maryland
#17 Virginia Commonwealth

Continue reading “Mark Your Calendars for March 26th”

Reviewing the 2016 MDC

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

On Feb. 27th, 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.
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…”