After reaching the National Championship Game last season, the Spartans have their sights set on winning the title this year. Despite losing six key members of last year’s team, including four All Stars, State should be even better this season. Part of this is the return of multiple key contributors who missed Nationals 2013, including three of the team’s hardest throwers, and another part of this is the general growth of the returning players. Add this to a potentially huge recruiting class by new captain Mike Van Ermen, and this is a team who should make a lot of noise in the NCDA this year.

MSU was picked fourth in the preseason Captain’s Poll this year, trailing #1 Grand Valley, #2 James Madison, and #3 Kentucky. To win a championship, they’ll likely have to beat at least two of those schools in one day at Nationals 2014, and MSU hasn’t beaten any of those schools since Fall 2008 (a win vs UK.)

The Spartans first tournament this year will likely be in a little over two weeks at Kent State. This will be the earliest State has started their season in recent memory, and they’ll get some tough tests. Also participating in the tournament will be Kent State, Central Michigan, Saginaw Valley, and Kentucky. These are some of the best teams in the league, with all of them being top seven seeds at Nationals 2013, and there will be three of last year’s Final Four teams. Kent State and Saginaw Valley will want some payback after being knocked out of the Nationals tournament by MSU.

Also on the schedule for this season for MSU are their typical home tournaments- the MSU Invite in the Fall and the Michigan Dodgeball Cup in the winter. They’ve also been given an invite to the GVSU Invite and the Chicago Dodgeball Open. And of course, Nationals 2014 in Columbus, OH.

Michigan State brought in 9 players for the 2012-2013 season, and 7 of them played in tournaments, and four of them played at Nationals 2013. Colin O’Brien, James Schneider, and Alex Starbird were the Freshmen rookies on the Nationals roster, and Ethan Ettema was a Sophomore rookie on the roster.

O’Brien especially stood out as a rookie, garnering some All-NCDA votes and being named an Assistant Captain for the 2013-2014 season. He was a Varsity level player from his first practice, and became a star for the Spartans over the course of the year.

Ethan Ettema fought off a virus that took away the middle part of the season, but was able to come back for Nationals where he played great. He played through an injury at Nationals when his team needed him most, and he was able to help State get ball possession and he covered for his teammates.

Alex Starbird showed tremendous growth as he made the Nationals 2013 roster, and he made some big time plays at the tournament, He’s turning into a reliable player for MSU, and should become a starter soon.

James Schneider also showed growth over the season, and he’s becoming a clutch player for MSU. He can do everything well, but there’s still room for improvement in his game.

Josh Ciboch wasn’t able to play in the second half of the season due to injury, but if he can return for MSU he would be a welcomed improvement. Similar to Schneider he’s a guy who can do everything well, but can still get better.

Sam Clark was perhaps the most improved rookie this past season, as he picked up the game better and started becoming a great catcher. His throw is getting better as well, and he could become a great player for MSU if he continues his hard work.

Zach Webber has a lot of talent, it just needs unlocking. He’s a great dodger and is hard to hit, and at times showed glimpses of great catching and throwing. If he can do it consistently, he also could become an elite player for State.

A new group of Spartan Dodgeballers has joined the Michigan State Club Dodgeball Team, and this could be the best class since the 2009-2010 class. With a ton of diverse players coming together, it’s a unique class with a wide array of talents to help the team out. The class includes some power throwers, some pure catchers, some blockers, and a few people who can do a little bit of everything. There’s also a wide age range, with some seniors to go along with mostly freshmen and sophomores.

The players have all come from different dodgeballing backgrounds as well. Sophomore Tim Leszczynski played with the team towards the end of the season last year, and freshman Colin O’Brien says “I’ve played dodgeball every summer at my camp where I was a camper and now am a counselor as well as my high school had two dodgeball tournaments a year which were my favorite Fridays of the year.” Freshman Alex Starbird says that he wanted to play dodgeball because “It’s something different that not many other people get to play.”

The players have all loved it so far as well, with O’Brien saying “It’s been great thus far. The level of competition is great and forces me to improve every practice.” Starbird adds “I’ve really enjoyed playing so far, each practice has been a lot of fun.” The rookies are all getting better as well, as Starbird says “I feel like I have gotten better in the first couple weeks because I now know that there is strategy to the game and it’s not just a free for all.”

But the season is just beginning, and some of the players already are excited for later events. “I’m really looking forward to the first tournament and getting out there in a real game where playing as a team and winning really matters” states O’Brien.

Assistant Captain Kevin Miller feels like this is a good group of rookies. “The rookies have been showing a lot of promise this year. They are working well as a team and play a fearless game. There is a lot of good talent in this group. The returning players from last year will need to play hard if they want to stay on the varsity roster.”

With this recruiting class, the Spartans could make a good run towards both the Michigan Dodgeball Cup title and National Championship if they continue to improve, not just this year but also in the future.

Michigan State’s annual club recruiting fair, known as Sparticipation, was a huge success for the Club Dodgeball team. MSU had over 180 sign ups and passed out over 800 flyers. With the first practice coming up Tuesday, September 4th, MSU is looking at having a huge turnout. The Spartans gave away some t-shirts to people who threw over 45 miles per hour on the radar gun, had Sparty throw a dodgeball, and helped get a ton of interest set up for the club. The team is hoping to get over 100 people to the first practice for the fourth straight season.

The first practice is this Tuesday, and then practices will be every Tuesday and Thursday after that for the remainder of the school year.