The #4 Michigan State Spartans (9-3-1) took the four hour drive to icy Chicago, IL, to play in the 2013 Chicago Dodgeball Open. They would face the #9 Moody Archers (2-3-0), #17 Nebraska (0-4-0), and #3 James Madison (9-2-1). MSU brought only 14 of an allowed 20 players, making it a tough go for them, but they were able to go 2-1, beating Moody 8-0, Nebraska 11-0, but losing 2-1 to JMU.

The first game was against Moody, and the Archers only brought 11 players themselves. Without some of their star players, MSU would rally and get some clutch catches, along with some accurate throws to get kills in transition and along the baseline and jump out to a 4-0 lead at the half. They picked up the next point quickly in the second half and then began to play around, not wearing on their arms and just having fun. Jake Ochoa (MAD #3-C) had some great catches for the Archers, but it wasn’t enough as they were out caught and out thrown by the Spartans. MSU is now 4-0 against Moody, scoring 27 points while giving up 0.

Last year, Michigan State rolled over the Huskers 14-0 at the CDO. This year was much of the same, as the more athletic MSU team was able to dictate the pace and force Nebraska into tough situations. MSU caught like crazy, and they were able to pick off unprotected Nebraska players. MSU would win the game 11-0, although the game was called early.

The Spartans wanted payback on the Dukes for their loss at Nationals 2012 pool play, but they wouldn’t get it today. JMU would use the rebounding advantage created by the odd gym (one side had a wall near the court, the other had a nook where the balls would die and not rollback) and they kept MSU on their baseline. With the Spartans playing too much defense and not enough offense, JMU was able to pick off Spartan after Spartan in the first half. They took a 2-0 lead into the half, despite the best effort of the MSU players. State would bounce back however, and score the next point in a hard fought back and forth battle, in which John Luzenski (MSU #12) got a clutch catch that triggered a slew of clutch plays by MSU, and a final kill by Mike Van Ermen (MSU #6). There was only 8 minutes left on the clock after that point, but MSU wouldn’t roll over. They knocked JMU down to five players in about 3:30, but gave up all the balls to do so. With JMU having 10 balls, they could use their stellar defense to block all the solo throws the Spartans would do. MSU eventually whittled JMU to three players, but the buzzer would end on the game, meaning a JMU victory.

Overall it was a good experience for the Spartans, giving valuable playing time for some players as well as being a fun trip to Chicago. Michigan State next plays at SVSU on January 27th, and then plays at home for the Michigan Dodgeball Cup on February 9th.

Next for MSU is the Chicago Dodgeball Open, hosted at the Ray Meyer Fitness Center on Depaul’s campus. The Spartans will get games with Moody Bible Institute, Nebraska, (possibly) James Madison, and Grand Valley.

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In the final game of Andrew Koczara’s (#24) and Chris Kramer’s (#21) illustrious careers, Michigan State had a roller coaster thrill ride of a battle with GVSU, one in which they would lose 3-2 in overtime. After dropping the first point to Grand Valley in about 10 minutes, MSU would fight back with strong play, especially catches, team throws, and counters, and take the next point going into the half. To start the second half, MSU jumped out of the game quickly and took another point, this time with around 12 people still on the court, and gave the Spartans just their second ever lead over GVSU. However, as it neared crunch time, it was clear that the Lakers weren’t going down without a fight, as they came out with stellar team play and over-matched Michigan State to take the fourth point, making it 2-2. Neither side played very riskily for the fifth point, and the game headed for overtime.

Michigan State chose Koczara and Kramer, along with Alex Acton (#72), Eric Paul (#9), Mike Van Ermen (#6), and Andy Lieblich (#20) for the overtime duel, as Grand Valley countered with Mark Trippiedi (#8), Dylan Fettig (#24), Kevin Bailey (#4), Kenny Bacchus (#32), Josh Stevenson (#13), and Ryan Knight (#11). State took out Knight extremely quick, then got a great catch from Acton on Trippiedi to make it a 6-4 advantage for the Spartans. However, GVSU would even the odds by taking out Acton, Lieblich, and Van Ermen while only losing Josh Stevenson to make it even at three players a piece. The Spartans took down Fettig to take a 3-2 advantage, leaving Bacchus and Bailey on the court for GVSU against Koczara, Kramer, and Paul for MSU. GVSU dropped Koczara next, bringing it to a two vs two fight to the finish. After a missed team throw opportunity against Bacchus on a balls over, Eric Paul smartly fired on at a dodging Bacchus, getting the kill. After a couple of balls over going both ways, MSU had ten balls to GVSU’s none, but a diving catch by Bailey on Kramer brought Knight back in, putting State on the defensive. Then Knight threw at Paul, but Paul made the catch, bringing back in Acton, but before Acton could throw with Paul, Bailey threw out Paul. This led to a one on one scenario of two All-Stars.They both threw, they both hit, but the ball that hit Acton hit the ground before the ball that hit Bailey’s did, meaning another Laker victory in the rivalry.

This was undoubtedly the best game in the history of this one sided rivalry, and will go up there with the win over Delta College in the 2009 MDC, the win over SVSU in the 2010 MDC, and the losses to CMU and GVSU in the 2010 and 2011 Nationals as the best performances by a Michigan State squad ever.

After starting the season 7-1, including beating rivals SVSU and CMU, the Spartans look to accomplish a feat they’ve never done- beat Grand Valley. With the match being on December 2nd in the Laker Fieldhouse Arena, the atmosphere should be great. The Lakers are coming off a 2-1 loss to rival SVSU, but are 3-1 on the season. Michigan State meanwhile is on a seven game winning streak after dropping their first match to Kentucky. However, the Spartans have never defeated the Lakers, so GVSU is the clear favorite in this one. For MSU to pull off the upset they’ll have to play as a team, and have to play to everyone’s abilities. State will also need two players, Chris Kramer and Andrew Koczara, who are playing in their last game to play great.

The Lakers are led by Mark Trippiedi, who has a 70+ mph throw, who along with Dylan Fettig make one of the best one-two punches in all of dodgeball. While this current team isn’t as strong as the 2008-2009 team that didn’t drop a point all season, they are still clearly a top five time in the NCDA. It will undoubtedly be Michigan State’s toughest match of the semester, so this could be a barometer of sorts to see if MSU is a MDC favorite or still the underdog. While the two teams get along fairly well off the court, expect to see some fireworks on the court, as this is a fierce rivalry.

Last season MSU lost both matches they played against GVSU, the first was a 7-1 loss at GVSU in which the Spartans played with a depleted roster, and the second was a 5-0 match that was closer than the score indicated.

There will also be a junior varsity match after the game, which will give some valuable experience to some of the younger members of the club.

After starting the season with a 3-1 record at the OSU Invite, Michigan State followed it up with a 4-0 record at their home tournament, the MSU Invite, making them three time defending champions. The Spartans looked a little shaky at times, but mostly dominated the competition to move to 7-1 on the season.

Their first match was against BGSU, and State was able to roll. By getting out BGSU’s #4 Brady Etzler early and often, Michigan State was able to limit the offensive capabilities of the Falcons and led by Alex Acton the Spartans were able to get a 5-1 the victory. Following that was a battle with #1 Kent State, who MSU had already beaten this season. In an intense, hard fought battle, the Spartans pulled off a 2-0 win. Kent State’s #13 Camden Fullmer, one of the best players in the country, had an especially good game for the Flashes, but a team effort by MSU gave them a victory. Next was Central Michigan, led by #27 Wes Peters, #00 Bryce Corrion, and #4 Brett Hadwin, but they only had 10 players. The Chips took the first point after some sloppy play by MSU, but the Spartans turned it around, and won 8-1. Their final match of the day was against Depaul, and after getting out to a 5-0 lead at halftime, the game was called after #51 for Depaul dislocated her shoulder.

Overall almost all the Spartans had great games, and Chris Kramer and Andrew Koczara played their last home tournament for MSU.

The #6 Spartans will host the 2012 MSU Invite today at IM West on MSU’s campus. The first round of games will start at approximately 10:45 am and continue until around 5 pm. Teams going to the tournament are #1 Kent State, #8 CMU, #9 Depaul, and #14 BGSU. Come cheer on your Spartans!

With MBI unfortunately dropping out for this weekend’s tournament, here is an updated schedule for the MSU Invite:

11 am- MSU vs BGSU, Depaul vs Kent State

12:15 pm- MSU vs Kent State, BGSU vs CMU

1:30 pm- MSU vs CMU, BGSU vs Depaul

2:45 pm- MSU vs Depaul, CMU vs Kent

4:00 pm- CMU vs Depaul, BGSU vs Kent