*All regional rankings based off the content team’s preseason power rankings
Order of Finish:
1. Kentucky
2. North Georgia
3. Northwestern State
4. Georgia Southern
South Region OT 6:
Daniel LaJeunesse Jr. (UK)
Royce Hogg (UNG)
Casey Alfultis (NSU)
Brett Storie (GSU)
Tyler Kratzer (UK)
Jake Jarrett (UNG)
*All regional rankings based off the content team’s preseason power rankings
Order of Finish:
Midway Conference Player of the Year: Joel Luciano (DePaul)
Midway Conference OT 6:
*All regional rankings based off the content team’s preseason power rankings
Order of Finish:
Ohio Region Player of the Year: Tom Morand (Miami)
Ohio Region OT 6:
Continue reading “Ohio Region 2019-20 Preview”*All regional rankings based off the content team’s preseason power rankings
Order of Finish:
East Coast Region Player of the Year: Evan Eschenburg (JMU)
East Coast Region OT 6:
Continue reading “East Coast Region 2019-20 Preview”
In preparation for the opening weekend of the 2019-20 College Dodgeball season, NCDA commentators Shadeed Drakeford and Kevin Bailey sat own to chat about what they expect from Michigan State’s Early Access Tournament on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019. Below is their discussion previewing this weekend’s event:
Kevin Bailey: First off, for those who don’t know, Shadeed will be in East Lansing this weekend to help run the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association’s stream for the tournament. So Shadeed, thank you for taking the time to help run this weekend’s filming. With that said, how excited are you for opening weekend?
Shadeed Drakeford: I’m very fortunate and blessed for this amazing opportunity to stream on behalf of the NCDA. When I found out about the fall schedule, I circled this tournament on my calendar and purchased my tickets soon afterwards. On a scale of 1-10 on how excited I am, I’m at 100 right now.
*All regional rankings based off the content team’s preseason power rankings
Order of Finish:
Michigan Region Player of the Year: Ben Smart (GVSU)
Michigan Region OT 6:
Continue reading “Michigan Region 2019-20 Season Preview”With the 2019-20 season still several months away, let’s take an early look at the way-too-early power rankings. This coming season looks to be a special one, with so many teams in the hunt for a national title!
2019 Finish: #5 in Power Rankings, T-3 at Nationals
2020 is the Spartans’ year! Youth and inexperience will no longer plague Michigan State in 2020, as they will be not only one of the most talented teams in the country, but one of the most experienced.
Starting at the top, Junior Captain Payton Schuster is poised to have an MVP caliber season in 2020, after finishing as an All-American in 2019 as just a sophomore. Schuster is far from the only weapon on this roster though. Fellow juniors Dennis Sullivan, Max Antilla, and Brent Weakland will all be veteran leaders next year. Each of which can be counted on to hold his own if he is the last man standing. On top of that, MSU had a loaded rookie class in 2018-19, so they will bring back a talented, battle-tested sophomore class that will have a major impact on the team’s success. Jack Hilt and Jacob Georges were two of the top rookies in the country last year, and will only be better in 2019-20. Hunter Broski, Evan Bara, Jake Lico, and Ben Traub all made some plays last year for the Spartans, but each will have breakout seasons during their second year on the roster.
Continue reading “2019-20 Way-Too-Early Power Rankings”The East Coast had a strong showing this year and will look to make a splash at Nationals. Since each East Coast team played a schedule filled with mostly other East Coast teams, we got a lucky draw with only one inter-East matchup on Saturday. However, it’s not all good news for the East when it comes to Nationals. JMU, UVA, and WVU will not be making the trip, which is a huge blow to the East Coast and league in general. Anyways, here’s the preview for the Towson, VCU, PSU, and UMD for Nationals 2019.
Continue reading “East Coast Nationals Preview”For a lot of people in this world, reflecting on their lives can be a difficult thing, and can lead to conclusions that are against their own personal opinions. Growing up in the sticks in Carroll County, Maryland taught me how to become an adult at a very young age. I’ll never forget a conversation I had with my dad when I was about 12 years old. We had just gotten done around five to six hours of mulching our front yard. He looked at me and said “Son, make sure in life you always tell it like it is. Don’t add fluff to make people feel better. Always shoot it straight to someone.” That’s pretty much how I’ve tried to live my life up to this point. That’s how I tell it to my middle school students while I’m teaching them about Health, how I tell it to the J.V. baseball team I help coach, and how I’m going to tell it in this article. These are my 7 Brutal Truth’s heading into NCDA Nationals 2019.
ICYMI: Our Saturday schedule has been released on our Facebook Page and is now available here on the website! We will also have a live scoring sheet available on Google Sheets which will include scores throughout the day, current win-loss records, and even up to date seeding for Sunday’s bracket play. There will be livestreaming for matches also available through Facebook Live through the NCDA’s Facebook Page if you’re able to watch.
Continue reading “Saturday Nationals Schedule”There are several big matches taking place in the league this weekend as teams make their final show of strength (and overall adjustments) in preparation for Nationals 2019. As exciting as it will be to see who comes out on top as “The Big Three” (GVSU, JMU, and Towson) clash one more time, my eyes are focused on the matchup in the Southern Region happening this morning.
Once again, the University of North Georgia will host Georgia Southern University in a double header matchup that will give us a lot of insight on where these two programs are as they both get ready to wrap up their third season in the NCDA. These two teams joined the NCDA together, playing their induction match against one another back in the Fall of 2016, and have a strong history of matchups. Unfortunately, in all of those matchups so far UNG has continued to come out as the stronger team. It has taken some time, but the ability gap between the two teams seems to have started to close. The question is, has it closed enough for us to see some different results from their clash this time around? The captains of both teams weighed in and let us know their thoughts.
University of North Georgia (UNG)
The UNG Nighthawks are currently being hailed as the kings of the Southern Region thanks to their big win over the University of Kentucky during their home tournament back in the fall of this season. Since then however, they’ve been fairly quiet, even though the rest of league has been wanting to see how they fair against even bigger opponents from other regions. Hopefully sitting idle has not made them soft. We shall see after today and during their performance at Nationals.
Captain, Royce Hogg, along with assistant captains Bailey Hankins, Luke Cheney, and Thomas Clements feel as though the core strength of their team is still there. They are also excited to see how some of their young arms, such as Tanner Fields and Vince Bartolomei, play today. Confident as always, the Nighthawks believe they will come out with two more wins under their belt and have the knowledge on what they need to work on before Nationals.
Score Prediction: 5-0 over GSU in both matches.
Georgia Southern University (GSU)
The GSU Eagles have made some big and much needed improvements to their game since their first season, but have still struggled a bit to really take their game to the next level in order to compete with stronger programs. However, they have made big moves this season to travel and play other teams in the league in order to gain more experience. Although a bit more quiet in the second half of the season, GSU has worked extremely hard to build up their ranks and train hard in preparation for Nationals. Today’s matches will show us whether or not that hard work has made a difference.
Captain, Brett Storie, along with assistant captains Pastula Travis and Sam Copland, believe that we will see a new force on the court today if they are able to keep their composure, formation, and overall teamwork together. Veterans, like Andrew Clough, have helped to picked up the pace for the team, while rookies, like Matt Faulkinberry, have really grown since their first matches back in the Fall. They are looking foward to showing UNG, and the league, that they are a team worth talking about.
Score Predictions: UNG 2-1 GSU in OT (1st Match); 2-1 over UNG (2nd Match)
This is perhaps the most loaded tournament field to date not named the Michigan Dodgeball Cup (MDC). #2 Towson will play host to #1 Grand Valley State and #3 James Madison in one of the last regular season events of the year, appropriately titled the ‘Nationals Send-Off’ tournament.
All three teams rank in the top three of the current Gonzalez Standings, and have consistently been at the top of the charts of the content team’s Power Rankings as well. The three schools have a combined 52-6 record this season, with five of those wins/losses coming against each other. Additionally, all of them rank within the top 10 for strength of schedule this year.
While it would be easy to go on and on about the eye popping numbers each team brings to the table, let’s focus on what has gotten each of these teams to the pinnacle of college dodgeball thus far.
This Saturday, March 23rd, West Virginia will be hosting their first ever home tournament, which is a huge stepping stone for any new club. They’re also in a great location, being able to draw in both East teams and Ohio teams, which will give everybody an opportunity to play teams that they haven’t seen this year. The following article was put together by the Nasiadka brothers, Cory from WVU and Jake from Penn State. It gives a little bit of insight from each one of the captains and even some predictions for the day’s games. Needless to say, each captain is confident in their squad and predicted some big wins, including upsets. Huge shoutout to West Virginia for making this happen as I think everybody involved is stoked. Below is the schedule as well as predictions!
First off, we’re very excited to host our first tournament at WVU. After playing in our 6th tournament since the beginning of the Club last year, we have learned an incredible amount of what it takes to be a successful team in the league. Since our last tournament in Cleveland State, we have been working harder than we ever have been. I expect big things from our guys in this tournament.
UMD: I have never seen these guys play, so it’s hard to say what will happen here. Solely based off of their ranking I expect us to compete with these guys.
UVA: We played UVA once last year, and we got destroyed. I saw a team that seemed well in-sync. Other than that I don’t know much else about this team other than their ranking. 3-2 WVU
CSU: This is my favorite team in the league to play. Their captain Joe is a force to be reckoned with on the court. The man has a cannon for an arm. I’ve also heard nothing but good things from this team as of late regarding their progress. 3-2 WVU
PSU: How great it would be if I could beat my older brother on my own home turf in our last ever match against each other. These guys have picked us apart every time we have played them. To me, these guys always seem like one of the strongest teams in the league. They’ve got some great athletes and they all work well together. We have also never played them with a full 12 guys. If it’s ever going to happen, it has to happen this Saturday. 3-2 Penn State
PSU looks to rebound after our devastating loss to OU at The War last month. We’ve practiced a lot since then, and hope to show our improved strategy at Mountain Madness..
I expect a big day from our big guns Andreas Georgiou and Sean Emrich. Also keep an eye on Ben Paz in his final regular season NCDA tournament. His leadership and strategy has lifted us up to reach our full potential.
I want to give a huge shoutout to Cory and the WVU squad. They’ve taken such a big leap to the next level by hosting their first tournament and attracting 6 visiting teams. That’s no easy feat considering the club is barely a year old.
UMD: Maryland has one of the toughest schedules in the nation, constantly playing Towson and JMU. They’ve grown very hardy and disciplined as a result. This will be a tough game to win, but I think ball control will be the key. 4-2 PSU
OSU: I think a lot of teams sleep on OSU, as their record is not indicative of how talented they really are. Dylan Greer and Ben Johnson are two of the best captains in the league, and I look forward to seeing how they measure up against us. This will be the match of the day, but late game catches from Brett Miller and Noah Grube give us the W. 3-2 PSU
CSU: CSU has gained a lot of experience (probably the most of newer teams) this year and can hang tight with teams like Akron and MSU. 3-1 PSU
WVU: I always love playing West Virginia. Cory has one of the best arms in the league, and they can be extremely dangerous if their guys show discipline and strategy on the court. But WVU is 0-3 against us over the past 2 seasons, and I expect a similar outcome this time around. Your time will come in the future, Cory. 4-1 PSU
I am really looking forward to another weekend of Dodgeball! This team has made great strides over the year and I am hopeful that this tournament will be a great way to piece together all of the things we have been practicing throughout the year.
Some quick thoughts on our games: I love getting to play Ohio teams. They are all disciplined and make you pay for your mental errors, one of PSU’s biggest downfalls. Both CSU and OSU are well structured teams that will challenge us to play to our system and not make mistakes. I’ve always felt that PSU could compete with any Ohio school. I feel like our athleticism and growth as a team will carry us through these two tight matchups this weekend. I expect each of these games to be decided by one point.
WVU has always been one of our most fun games on our schedule. Not only do we get to witness Jake and Cory go at it, bro versus bro, we also get to let our younger guys get some great experience time in a NCDA game. I expect WVU to continue to improve and come at us with full strength. Should be an exciting game and weekend!
UVA: Looking at UVA’s results throughout the year and reading about their performance seems to show that they have their on and off days. If they bring the heat this weekend this matchup could be tough. If the circumstances fall in our favor, I have faith in my team to prevail in this game. OSU wins 4-2
PSU: PSU seems to be having a good season, and has shown to put up a fight with every team they play against. The win over Akron that went viral shows that this team will make this a hard match all the way until the end. If we can limit their catching ability, I believe my team can pull a dub here. OSU wins 3-2
UMD: This matchup is one we are anticipating the most in the upcoming weekend. Our team was quite rattled after being upset in the first round of Nationals last season, so getting a rematch is very exciting. Our team plans on walking into this game with some fire so expect this matchup to get heated. OSU wins 4-1
OSU: We’re really excited to play OSU after our Sunday nationals matchup with them last year. Last year was our first time playing them in recent years, and we won in an exciting OT finish. We had a lot of fun in that matchup last year and are excited for our rematch.
WVU: We have no idea what to expect from WVU. None of our current players have played them or watched them play. So we are going in blind to their play style. Overall: We’re very excited to be traveling outside of our typical Maryland/Virginia radius and play some teams outside Towson, JMU, and UVA
WVU: Optimistic, but honestly we have no clue what to expect from this team.
OSU: If our game against them at nationals last year is a precursor to now, this game will be an absolute brawl. Impossible to tell which one of us is coming out on top.
Overall: as the club president, I would like to win all of our games (it would make my day), but honestly, I’m just grateful for the opportunity to get some (mostly) new competition before nationals. No matter the outcome, I’m hoping that gets better all-around.
I think that this weekend is going to be a blast because of the opportunity for teams to play people of close to their same ranking, which will definitely be something we don’t see in most tournaments. Things to definitely watch out for this weekend would be how well teams to adapt one another playing other teams of similar strengths and how they adapt to VCU, who is the highest-ranked team going this weekend. I am beyond excited for all the teams we will play this weekend and I feel that every match this weekend will be a fight no matter who is playing!
We’ve been looking forward to this tournament for a while, as it’ll give us a nice opportunity to play some teams that we haven’t played this year, as well as two that we haven’t ever played. Getting out of the east is much needed for us, as playing a schedule of only Towson, JMU, VCU, and UMD can get very frustrating at times. I don’t think this schedule could’ve fell out any better for us, as we get to avoid UMD, who we’ve played a ton this year, and Penn State, who I believe may be the best team at the tournament. Also, I think our matchups work well with the roster that we’re bringing. We have an athletic team going, with two guys making their NCDA comebacks. Anyways, here are my predictions for our games.
CSU: This is a team that I’m really interested to play. Along with UMD, this seems like one of the top 2 most underrated teams in the league. Although they didn’t have the best showing at ODC, they did have a 3-2 (loss) showing against MSU at WAR, which is impressive. I really haven’t gotten to see them play at all this year, but love getting to play a new team. Prediction: UVA 3, CSU 2 (OT)
OSU: This is another team that I’m looking forward to playing for the first time ever, and another that I don’t know much about this year. I know that they have a solid top half of their roster and had a good showing at ODC, making it into the 5-team OT style playoff, but outside of that, we’re sort of going into this game blind. It’ll most likely be a dog fight, but we’re looking forward to the challenge. Prediction: OSU 3, UVA 2
WVU: This is a game I’m really looking forward to playing and one that I wish could’ve happened a long time ago this year. I’m looking forward to seeing how much this team has improved and grown since we played them last year at Penn State, since I like to see young teams succeed. In the end, I think our experience and the break that we have right before this game will ultimately prove that they may be West Virginia, but we’re Best Virginia. Prediction: UVA 3, WVU 1
This Saturday, March 9, 2019 at Miami University four teams are coming together for a round robin tournament. The following teams will be in attendance: Miami University, Bowling Green State University (BGSU), University of Cincinnati (UC), and the University of Wisconsin Platteville (UWP). It is a battle of the Ohio Region and the Midway Conference. Which region will come out on top? Let’s take a look at the schedule:
Continue reading “RedHawk Rampage Preview”The annual Ohio Dodgeball Cup will take place this upcoming weekend at Bowling Green State University. This year there will be 8 teams in attendance looking to take home the cup. The ODC is structured in such a way that if only one team goes undefeated on the day they will win the Cup. In the case multiple teams end with the same record a tie breaker will be played after the conclusion of the scheduled matches to determine which team is the best in the Ohio region.
Click here to see the score sheet and schedule for the Ohio Dodgeball Cup!
Continue reading “Preview: Ohio Dodgeball Cup 2019”
