Monthly Archives: March 2012

MSU Women To Play In All-Girls Game At Nationals 2012

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Olivia Ghislain, Nicole Halbeisen, Erin Treanore, and Cote Witt are all playing in the first ever Nationals All-Girls game at Saginaw Valley. The four Spartan women will be mixed together with the other schools bringing girls, and play a girls-only match. The other schools bringing girls include Kent State, Depaul, Northwestern State, and James Madison, among others. This match will be played on the Saturday of Nationals, along with the second annual All-Star Game, which the Spartans will also be playing in.

Michigan State Awaiting Nationals 2012 Foes

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As the Spartans move closer to setting their roster for the 2012 NCDA National Tournament at Saginaw Valley State University, they also move closer to finding out their opponents for day one of the tournament. Day one of the tournament is a three match group play round robin, and MSU is anticipating they’ll avoid the other Michigan superpower teams. Right now, Zigmas Maloni of Depaul has Michigan State playing James Madison, Moody Bible Institute, and Western Kentucky, with all three schools being ranked in the top twelve of the NCDA rankings. The Spartans have played Moody three times in the two year history of the program, with the Spartans coming out on top all three times. Michigan State has not played the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky since Nationals 2010 at Bowling Green State University, and they have never played James Madison.

MSU is also undefeated the last three seasons against out of state opponents. They are hoping to continue this run through Nationals this year. The second day of Nationals features a single elimination tournament, which the Spartans will hope to have a good seed to advance to their third straight Final Four appearance. Junior Will Hack says he’d like to play “James Madison” because of the fact that there is a James Madison College at Michigan State University. He’d also like to play “Depaul, because I’ve never had the chance to play them and I hear it’s a blast.”

The current guest list for Nationals includes the three other semifinalist teams from last year, Big Ten rival Ohio State, and common opponents Bowling Green and Western Illinois, which means the Spartans will have to take down some of the toughest competition in the league if they are to win a title. It also includes teams that MSU has not played, at least not in a while, including Kentucky, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Towson.

The formula for seeding for the second day is currently projected to be based off of 80% of the points you score on day one of Nationals, and 20% of the points you’ve earned during the regular season. Since Michigan State is currently in fifth place in the standings they should be in good shape, but they can’t afford to falter on day one.

The full schedule for Michigan State will be posted as soon as it is released.

Baller of the Week: Mike Van Ermen

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Mike is a sophomore at Michigan State, and is in his second year of being on the varsity dodgeball team. He is improving every day, and can catch, throw, and block with the best of them. He’s an excellent mid-range player and has a powerful throw.

Q: What’s your favorite dodgeball memory been?

Mike: I would say beating Saginaw Valley at the Michigan Dodgeball Cup last year. I was left off the roster that traveled to SVSU earlier in the year, so this was the first time I had ever played them. I knew they were a good team so I was pretty excited we were able to pull of the win.

Q: How do you like the team’s chances for Nationals 2012?

Mike: I really like our chances for Nationals. I honestly believe that from spot one to spot fifteen, we are the deepest team in the league. If we play our game and don’t make unforced errors we should have too many problems. I feel if we cut down on the number of catches we throw we’d be unbeatable too.

Q: What do you think you can do to improve your game?

Mike: Get better at catching. Since the beginning of the year I’ve improved a lot, but I need to be more selective with what throws I try to catch. Too many times I go for a ball at my ankles and it bounces off my hands, but it will get better.

Home Court Advantage Key for Spartans

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Housed at Michigan State’s IM West, the Sports Arena is one of the most fair courts to play on. The gym walls are somewhat close to the baseline, with both sides covered with bricks. This leads to a very equal bounce back for rebounds for both teams. They also feature pullup bars, which according to Kent State’s Kyle Fitzpatrick, is “perfect to stretch out sore dodgeball arms.” However, the other Spartan gym is not as fair. One side has a seating area behind the court, which leads to very minimal rebounds, while the other side has the wall about a foot behind the court, which leads to tons of rebounds for the attacking team. Fitzpatrick also says “There is practically a rainbow of different colored lines for boundaries and neutral zone lines, but the court is still funtioncal.” The Sports Arena is the head court for the facility, and when MSU hosts a tournament the championship match is always down there.

The Spartans don’t have a great home court advantage, but they can usually fill out the bleachers of the Sports Arena. The Spartans are 6-5 over the past two seasons at the Sports Arena, but all their losses at home have come to instate rivals. The crowd is a bit more laid back, but Michigan State feeds off their home court and have only dropped 4 points to out of state schools at IM West the past two seasons. Kyle Fitzpatrick, says that “the Sports Arena has a unique energy about it…[MSU’s] fan base is legit, and make it that much harder to swing momentum.”

IM West is one of the older gyms in the league, at being over 50 years old so there is some history at the gym, with every Michigan Dodgeball Cup and a Nationals being hosted there. Depaul’s Zigmas Maloni says “Maybe it was growing up in half century old gyms in grade school and high school, but walking around MSU’s IM Sports West building is a blast from the past. IM West does have modern conveniences, but it’s for the nostalgic reason that MSU’s facilities help create a classic dodgeball atmosphere.” Another feature of the Sports Arena is an overhanging balcony in the gym, which allows a great location for filming. One negative however of the Sports Arena is the “openness of the court” according to Maloni. “While there’s no crowded prison problem of some other courts, you can’t get out of using ball shaggers for power cross court throws and rockets.”

Spartans Prep For Nationals 2012

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The Michigan State Spartans are now moving towards winning their first NCDA Championship in April at Saginaw Valley State University. The Spartans (8-7) have reached the Final Four in the last two seasons, but they are looking for more this season. They had a disappointing finish at the 2012 Michigan Dodgeball Cup this February, in which they went 0-3, but the Spartans were competitive in every game giving them some hope. MSU also has not lost to an out of state school since 2009, giving them an edge over the majority of the competition.

Michigan State began the season at SVSU in which they split two games, a loss against Saginaw Valley and a win against Bowling Green, with the win against Bowling Green being their first win in the Cardinal Gym ever. They followed that up by hosting the 2011 MSU Invite, where they swept Eastern Michigan, Depaul, Kent State, and Ohio State to win the championship. Their next match was a loss to Grand Valley State, then they went to Depaul for the Chicago Dodgeball Open. At the CDO the Spartans were able to go 3-1, beating Nebraska, Western Illinois, and Moody Bible, but losing again to Grand Valley State. The Spartans then hosted their second tournament of the year, the Michigan Dodgeball Cup, where they lost all three matches against Central Michigan, Saginaw Valley, and Grand Valley. The following weekend the Spartans would lose for the fourth time that season to GVSU.

The Spartans will not know who they play in the tournament until the beginning of April, but they are ready. The tournament could go to any team this year, and with a veteran led team the Spartans are just as primed as any to hoist the trophy this season.