Last Saturday, November 3, 2018, the Battle of the Midway took place between Southern Illinois Univeristy Edwardsville (SIUE) and Univeristy of Wisconsin Platteville (UWP). The UWP alumni were in attendance too, but as Matt Batuch (UWP Alumni) said, they are washed up so they are not that important. It was a exciting day, and the scores were as follows:
UWP- JV def SIUE 2-1
UWP Varsity def SIUE 4-2
UWP Alumni def UWP Varsity 3-2
UWP Varsity def SIUE 6-1
SIUE was at a higher level of play this year than they were the year before. They worked really well as a team and were great at catching. For more than half the team, this was just their second time playing with rubber dodgeballs, as they are used to playing with foam. That did not seem to stop them from picking up on how to throw and bringing the heat. As the day went on, their confidence grew and their skill and understanding of the game got better. As they get more games in, and play more teams at their level they will pull out the wins.
Captain’s Reactions
the ball. On our team Cameron Pearce #43 had some good throws and managed to win a solo against three opponents. Austin Scola, #24, had a lot of smart throws and got a lot of people out.
Austin Kurey (UWP)- I think that SIUE came out with a lot of fire. They proved as a team that they were not to be taken lightly. Their captain, #75, Kyle Kent, played very smart throughout the match and was also very good at catching the ball. I believe that catching the ball is one of the toughest skills in dodgeball to develop, and I envy his ability to do so. The other player that really impressed me was #13, Zach Jung. He came out firing on all cylinders as he has quite a 
cannon for an arm. I know from personal experience that it threw me off guard and will continue to do so in their future matches. Overall, I believe that the SIUE team is very skilled and will continue to compete in the future.
In the alumni match up, UWP’s varsity team could be seen as quite the underdog in this match up due to all the firepower that the Alumni team had. From Edwin to Matt, they really know how to throw the ball. However, our varsity squad was able to get a few catches, even if they were lucky, from these power houses. I believe that our team did a very good job matching up with all the skill that the Alumni team had and it really helped us grow individually and as a team.
Final Words- Both of these teams are sitting at a good point in the season in terms of development. With more games, both teams are only going to get better and better, and be more of a challenge for all teams in the NCDA. If you missed watching Platteville last weekend, don’t worry, they are playing in Kent State this weekend! They are full of energy and ready to compete.