Event Reviews – Page 4

2nd Annual John Betters’ Bobcat Bonanza Tournament Review

The second annual John Betters’ Bobcat Bonanza showed us where a lot of teams stand at this point in the season. With most teams having played a match throughout the league as of the conclusion of this weekend, I think we are finally starting to get a good picture for how each team compares to one another. While there are still a lot of lingering questions (IE – how does the majority of the East Coast stand up to the rest of the league? What does Michigan State look like? Is Towson still truly a top team in the NCDA? Are Grand Valley and Cincinnati actually that good?), we did get some real answers this weekend. Yes, Grand Valley is still a force to be reckoned with. Yes, Cincinnati is a legitimate title contender despite the loss to the aforementioned Lakers. Yes, the league is in overall good health with impressively large rookie classes for a lot of teams who hadn’t played prior to this weekend such as Ohio and Saginaw Valley.

What hasn’t been answered, however, is what each team thought about their own individual performances on the weekend. The participating Captains and Presidents minced no words when it comes to how they felt about their teams’ performances this past weekend. Here’s what they had to say:

Towson keeps control of East Coast after Maryland Madness

While there are no certainties in life, it is fair to say that coming off of the season and a half hiatus Towson was still likely to be the top team in the East Coast. After a few tournaments, including this previous weekend’s ‘Maryland Madness’ hosted by UMD, that remains the case. The rest of the East Coast has been anything but predictable, though.

Inaugural Southern Dodgeball Cup Recap

The following was written by Zach Rivera (GSU – Alumni)

Mar. 7, 2020 – Dahlonega, GA

Earlier this month, the University of North Georgia (UNG) hosted the University of Kentucky (UK) and Georgia Southern University (GSU) for the inaugural Southern Dodgeball Cup (SDC). Although the Southern Region of the NCDA is not as large as some of the other established regions in the league, this tournament showed just how competitive this region has become with some nail-biting matches that are sure to show the rest of the league what to expect from these Southern teams in the future. Below are the scores and outcomes from the tournament, and some thoughts on each matchup and how each team did overall:

Zanderthon Throw-Down 5 Recap

Last Saturday, marked another successful Zanderthon Throw-Down. The teams showed up and came to compete. The talent on these teams is better than every and they will be able to show it off in just over a month’s time. Here are the scores from the weekend.

The Viking Cup Recap

At the Viking Cup, several teams went head to head for some quality matches to prepare for nationals. Several of the games were close and tested teams’ ability to fight and go for the win. Below are the scores for the day and captain’s thoughts on the teams in attendance.

Match	Score	Winner
SVSU vs UWP	2-1	SVSU
WMU vs BSU	5-3	WMU
CSU vs SVSU	3-2	CSU
CSU vs UWP	4-3	CSU
UWP vs BSU	7-1	UWP
SVSU vs UK	5-2	SVSU
WMU vs UK	5-2	WMU
UK vs BSU	6-4	UK
CSU vs WMU	Forfeit	CSU

Weekend Recap: Biggest Winners / Losers from Last Saturday

Saturday, February 22, 2020 was a hectic day for college dodgeball. In total, 18 schools were in action on Saturday, spread across 3 separate tournaments: Ohio Dodgeball Cup, BEAST, and Viking Cup. It was a day full of awesome games and interesting results, with 28 total matches taking place throughout the day. There is certainly a lot to unpack after Saturday, so to break things down a bit, let’s take a look at the biggest ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ from last weekend.

Before we get to the fun stuff, here are the results from the weekend:

…And here is your current top 20 Gonzalez Standings:

Now onto the winners and losers from Saturday:

Winners:

Western Michigan

It was a historic day for the Western Michigan University Dodgeball Club on Saturday, as the Broncos earned their first two wins ever. WMU beat Ball State 5-3, then followed it up with a 5-2 win over Kentucky in which the Broncos came back from a 2-1 halftime deficit to score four-consecutive points en route to a huge victory. Along with Captain Peter Broe leading the way, WMU had some strong consistent play from Ryan Allor and Randy Santana-Jiminez as well as some clutch performances by Hue Pettway and Evin Cooper. Saturday was a great day for WMU, and a stepping stone for their program moving forward. Western’s commitment to consistently facing tough competition in the Michigan Region is starting to pay off, and they are moving up the rankings because of it. This team has an exciting future.

Michigan Dodgeball Cup Recap: GVSU Wins 6th-Straight, MSU Ends a 15-Year ‘Curse’, Finishing 2nd

EAST LANSING, MI: For the 6th-consecutive season, the Michigan Dodgeball Cup will be staying in Allendale Michigan. The Grand Valley State Lakers won the 16th Annual MDC with a 4-0 record on the day, including an overtime thriller against Michigan State. The Spartans were able to win each of their other games, going 3-1 at MDC, making it the first time since 2005 that MSU had a winning record at the event. Central Michigan (2-2), Saginaw Valley State (1-3), and Western Michigan (0-4) were the other three teams in attendance, and each showed some good things throughout the day. Below are the final results from the tournament:

MSU def SVSU 3-2
CMU def WMU 5-2
GVSU def MSU 3-2 (OT)
SVSU def WMU 5-1
CMU def SVSU 3-1
GVSU def WMU 6-0
GVSU def CMU 4-1
MSU def WMU 6-1
MSU def CMU 4-0
GVSU def SVSU 5-0

GVSU wins Spartan Invite, MSU beats CMU in Comeback Fashion

The annual Spartan Invite took place on Sunday, with three traditionally dominant schools in attendance. Grand Valley State won the day, going 2-0, with Michigan State finishing 1-1, and Central Michigan finishing 0-2. The end result for each game was about what most would expect, but how we got there was a bit more interesting. Below is a recap of each match that took place this past Sunday at IM Sports West.

GVSU def CMU 5-1

The Lakers were victorious over Central Michigan in the first matchup between these two rivals since last season’s national semifinal game (an overtime thriller). The first point of this game was unexpected for those who have followed the results of each team so far this year. The Chippewas grabbed the ball advantage right from the get go, and used it to help them pick off some GVSU players early on. Central used an aggressive playstyle early on in the point, and they connected on some great crosses and counters to catch GVSU off guard. CMU eventually knocked GVSU down to just Ben Smart left on the court, and after some back and forth plays, Jawanza Edwards was able to step up and make a diving catch on a long reset throw from Smart to end the point giving CMU a 1-0 lead.

Pioneer Invitational Recap

At the Pioneer Invitational, UWP, DePaul, UNL, and SIUE competed to see who was the top team in the Midway conference. The games were highly competitive and entertaining to watch. The following are the results from Saturday:

UWP def SIUE (6-1)
UWP def DePaul (6-0)
UNL def SIUE (5-1)
UNL def DePaul (6-1)
Alumni def UWP (3-1)
SIUE def DePaul (7-0)
Alumni def SIUE (3-0)
UWP def UNL (2-1) OT

A quality tournament from a high quality bunch!

Grand Valley Gauntlet- Recap

Last weekend at the Grand Valley Gauntlet, three teams went head-to-head: GVSU, MSU, and UWP. They made for some good games and gave us a look at what to expect for the rest of the season. The following were the scores and thoughts from the day:

GVSU def UWP 10-0
GVSU def MSU 3-1
UWP def GVSU B 7-0
MSU def UWP 7-0
Alumni def GVSU 3-2 (OT)

Cornhusker Clash Recap

Last Saturday, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville (UWP) went head to head in a double header with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Both games were highly competitive and both sides showcased their talent. In the end, Platteville was able to take the wins in both matches. The scores were UWP def UNL 3-2 and UWP def UNL 4-2. Here are my thoughts and what some of the players had to say about the day.

Early Access Tournament Recap

THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN BY NCDA ALUMNI: KEVIN BAILEY & SHADEED DRAKEFORD.

On Sunday, the 2019-20 College Dodgeball season kicked off in East Lansing, Michigan on the campus of Michigan State University. In attendance were six different schools (including five of the top 10 nationally), all looking to start off the new year on the right foot. Below is a recap of the tournament:

Results from the Early Access Tournament at Michigan State:

Varsity Matches:

MSU def CMU 4-3 (OT)
SVSU def UK 3-2
GVSU def BGSU 6-0
GVSU def MSU 5-0
CMU def SVSU 4-0
BGSU def MSU 3-2 (OT)
CMU def UK 4-2
GVSU def SVSU 5-1

B-Team Matches:

UK def MSU-B 5-0
GVSU-B def CMU-B 5-0
SVSU-B def MSU-B (F)
BGSU def GVSU-B 5-0
CMU-B def SVSU-B 2-1

Team-by-Team recaps:

grand valley state university

Tim Ebert Memorial Dodgeball Tournament

Last Saturday, August 10, the Platteville Dodgeball Club hosted the first annual Tim Ebert Memorial Dodgeball tournament. In total, there were eight teams that competed in the round robin tournament followed by an elimination bracket.

Nationals Send-Off Tournament Recap

The following was written by Jeremy Brown:

GVSU Still the Best, Towson Not Far Off

This past Saturday, #2 Towson played host to #1 Grand Valley State and #3 James Madison in what was sure to be an intense final tournament before Nationals. This tournament did not disappoint, with each team providing a clearer image of what to expect at Grand Valley in just a few short weeks. For the purposes of this article, I want to first do a brief breakdown of each game before taking time to look at what this tournament means for Nationals. Let’s get started.

Redhawk Rampage II Recap

Last Saturday, four teams were in action and put evrything out on the court at the Redhawk Rampage II. Miami University (3-0) came out on top, followed by Bowling Green State University (2-1), University of Wisconsin Platteville (1-2) and University of Cincinnati (0-3). The following are the results for the day and the captains’ review of the teams and their performances.