James Madison Dodgeball: A Season Four Years in the Making

The East Coast’s dynasty has high aspirations for 2015, the last year for many of their star players

 

jmu-logoJames Madison University Club Dodgeball was founded in the fall of 2010 by Computer Science and Sports Management student, Christopher Hess.  Since their first tournament ever, JMU has stormed their way to an above 75% winning percentage over the course of four seasons, with victories over all of the top teams in college dodgeball including Grand Valley State, Saginaw Valley State, Central Michigan, Michigan State, Kentucky, and Kent State.

The Dukes have long been considered the cream of the crop in the East Coast region since they generally dominate their competition in the east.  They hold a 27-1 overall record against those teams, including an impressive 20-1 mark against teams from the state of Maryland.  This group may be relatively new to the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association (NCDA), but JMU has garnered some pretty high praise from opponents in the past.  Compliments like: “They are the most athletic team in the NCDA” or “the hardest throwing team in the league” have constantly been directed toward this team, and rightfully so.

While the Dukes are only in their fourth year as a member team of the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association, they still have compiled quite a few accolades thus far in the team’s brief existence, including two appearances in the quarterfinals, and one Final Four at the annual “NCDA Nationals” tournament.

All of this is old news to anyone who follows the NCDA, and it’s not the reason for me writing this feature story in the first place.  Would it surprise you if I said that this year is, in a way, a make-or-break season for JMU?  Would you believe me if I told you that everything that the Dukes have accomplished in seasons past was just a prelude to what they may have in store for this spring?  Well, now that I’ve grabbed your attention… Continue reading “James Madison Dodgeball: A Season Four Years in the Making”

JMU Dodgeball Presents: The Fall Brawl

HARRISONBURG – UREC: JMU Dodgeball Presents the Fall Brawl: UMD def TU 3-0, JMU def TU 6-0, JMU def UMD 4-1.

Point by point plays and statistics after the jump. Seriously, great job to JMU’s twitter jockey, major thanks for these as the source. Can’t express that enough. Continue reading “JMU Dodgeball Presents: The Fall Brawl”

BOTM: 2013 October

Joey Cardella [JMU-15]

Joey has changed a lot as a player in his three years in the NCDA. Originally a player known just for his throwing ability, he has evolved his game to become a top level catcher in the league. Much like other past BOTMs, Cardella is usually overlooked by other teams because he plays with star players like Andrew Hassett, Ben Sizemore and Brent Gromer. Joey worked his way into the upper echelon of players starting at last year’s Nationals in Kentucky, where he caught seemingly everything thrown his way. While it is still a debate over who is JMU’s best overall player, Cardella has been making a great case for that title with the way he ended last season, and how he’s started this one.  Continue reading “BOTM: 2013 October”