Northern Kentucky to Host First Dodgeball Tournament

This weekend we’re set to see a series of tournaments around the league. We have the East Coast Dodgeball Cup, where James Madison or Penn State are favored to win. We’ve also got the tenth edition of the Grand Valley Gauntlet, featuring three of the top five teams in the country in Michigan State, Cincinnati, and Grand Valley State. Finally, we have the Highland Heights Classic, which features first-time host Northern Kentucky facing off in a quick round-robin series with the University of Kentucky and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

These three teams are hungry to bask in the glory of victory, as wins have been tough to come by all season. In fact, the Wildcats haven’t played a match and the Illini have only played three (winning one). The Norse have played a respectable eleven matches in their inaugural season, and do have a win to their name. But again, two wins all year long between three teams makes for an interesting tournament only two weeks before Nationals. Let’s dig into how each team is set to look this weekend.

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Ethan Lehmkuhl’s Grand Valley Gauntlet X Predictions

For this preview, it’s just going to be me sharing my predictions for the Grand Valley Gauntlet, so if you don’t care what I have to say, this is your queue to leave. With that being said, this should be a great tournament all around, as it features 3 of the top 5 teams in the current standings (GVSU, MSU, UC).

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War VII Preview

This weekend the University of Akron will be hosting the annual War tournament that sees several teams in attendance from around the league. The other teams that will be in attendance this weekend are: Kent State University (Kent), University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL), Grand Valley State University (GVSU), Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU), Ohio State University (OSU), Miami University (Miami), and Akron B. Below let’s take a look at the schedule, captain’s thoughts, and predictions on the day. The following was put together by Arik Kavanagh and Cory Heitmann.

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Zanderthon Throw-Down VIII Preview

We are onto another weekend of matches on what has been an exciting season of dodgeball so far. Platteville will be hosting the the 8th annual Zanderthon Throw-Down on March 2nd. The teams in attendance will be the University of Wisconsin Platteville (UWP), the University of Wisconsin Stout (UWS), and alumni. This weekend UW-Stout will be getting their first official match in and the NCDA will have another team joining the league. After the official matches are done, teams will be mixed up to compete in a 6v6 round robin tournament! Let’s take a look at the teams and the schedule below.

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2024 ODC Preview

Looking ahead to this weekend’s Ohio Dodgeball Cup, I asked the content team to fill out an ODC bracket and opened up the floor for them to share their thoughts. While there was a lot of consensus on most of the picks, some staff members were bolder than others.

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Cornhusker Clash Preview

The second part of the season finally kicks off for the Central Region on February 17th, with a doubleheader between the University of Wisconsin Platteville (UWP) and University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL). The games will be played in Lincoln, Nebraska at the Nebraska Coliseum. After this event is completed, it will be the 5th time this year that these teams will have played each other and it will not be the last if UNL can come out to the Zanderthon Throw-Down in a few weeks. Below is the schedule for the day and a look at both teams heading into the weekend.

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2024 MDC Preview

This week the five college dodgeball teams from Michigan will make their annual descent on East Lansing, Michigan, and compete for the Michigan Dodgeball Cup. This tournament has a long, storied tradition in the league and usually serves as a good barometer as to who are contenders and pretenders as the league inches closer to April. Historically, the team that wins the Michigan Dodgeball Cup has found itself in the driver’s seat of the National Title race.

With all that said, this year is looking to once again be a two-horse race at the top. Michigan State University is looking to defend not only their MDC Title but also their National Title, while Grand Valley State University is looking to play spoiler and bring both trophies back to Allendale. You don’t often hear the Lakers labeled as potential spoilers, but this is the first time in recent memory that neither one of the trophies (MDC, National Championship) are in the possession of the 11-time National Champions. 

By Tony Stumpo and Owen Israels

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BEAST XII Preview

Entering what is the largest annual East Coast tournament and also one of the most intriguing tournaments across the nation, we have BEAST (Big Eastern Appalachian Super Tournament) this Saturday, February 10th, at James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, VA. Let’s take a look at some of the competitors this weekend starting with the out-of-region squads.

By Daniel Fernald (UMD) and Ethan Lehmkuhl (OSU)

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Summit Street Slugfest VII Preview

A new semester has come upon us, and with that, the NCDA will return to the corner of Ted Boyd Drive & Summit Street in beautiful Kent, Ohio for the first time since 2019. This tournament will be held on Sunday, January 28th, and will feature 10 teams spanning from East Lansing, Michigan, all the way down to Harrisonburg, Virginia, as well as 7/8 of the Ohio teams, and the Nittany Lions of Penn State. This tournament is putting some big names up against each other as we will see a total of EIGHT top-10 match-ups as this will certainly show who are the contenders versus the pretenders. Down below, we have the schedule, the links to each YouTube channel that will be streaming, and previews for all 10 teams attending.

By Mitchell Porter (Kent) & Rylan Close (Kent)

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Dr. Peter Broe Classic II Preview

Happy Holidays everyone, are you listening…? Dodgeball is back as the NCDA heads up to Kalamazoo, Michigan for the 2nd Annual Dr. Peter Broe Classic on Sunday, December 3rd. This tournament will be very busy as there will once again be 9 schools attending, who are all looking for an extra present this holiday season as the semester will wrap up following this event. This tournament will see schools from Michigan, Ohio, & Wisconsin face off against each other and as per usual, we have a preview for each team attending. 

By Mitchell Porter (Kent), Owen Israels (GVSU Alum), Erik Zander (UWP alum), and Ethan Lehmkuhl (OSU)

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Tyler Webb Memorial Preview

Another week, another great slate of dodgeball. This weekend features the Tyler Webb Memorial tournament at Bowling Green State University, where the league will come together to honor the life and legacy of the late Tyler Webb. Here, we preview each pinch and women’s team attending.

Article by Mitchell Porter (Kent State), and Ethan Lehmkuhl (OSU)

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Pioneer Classic IV Preview

This Saturday, November 11th, the University of Wisconsin Platteville (UWP) will be hosting the follow teams at the Pioneer Classic: University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL), Concordia University Wisconsin (CUW), and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Below is the schedule and a highlight of the teams and some thoughts from the captains. Thanks to Caleb Newell for making the schedule graphics.

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