At the beginning of each season, every Michigan team has two goals in mind, one is obviously to win Nationals, but the other is to win the Michigan Dodgeball Cup, considered by many to be the most competitive tournament all season long. If you are looking for heated competition all day long, then I highly recommend you attend this tournament on good ole Valentine’s Day.
Continue reading “Jacob Leski’s MDC Preview with Predictions”
Category: Previews
BEAST IV Preview
This Valentine’s Day marks the fourth installment of arguable the most important tournament on the East Coast every year. The Big East-Appalachian Super Tournament, commonly known as the BEAST, has played host to some of the best lineups in its previous three installments. This year, due to the Michigan Dodgeball Cup happening at the same time, there will not be another “top-tier” team (usually considered the four main Michigan schools and JMU) joining JMU’s home tournament this weekend. What the tournament does have though, are the three biggest teams on the East Coast, which has been gaining a lot of traction in a lot of people’s minds, in JMU, UMD and Towson, Ohio power Kent State, and NCDA newcomer Akron.
This tournament will give each team attending a great opportunity to learn a lot of things they have going for them, and what they need to improve on in preparation for Nationals in April. Going on that, here is a game-by-game preview and prediction of how I think things will go. Continue reading “BEAST IV Preview”
Colin O’Brien’s MDC Preview with Prop Bets
The Michigan Dodgeball Cup is the premier annual tournament of the Michigan region. Hosted every February by Michigan State, these matches are often previews of the semi-finals and final matches of Nationals. MSU and SVSU have played great matches at each of the last two Nationals, with each winner going on to lose to GVSU in the championship. This year, the MDC is the most competitive and wide open that it has been in my three years in the league. Even with an undefeated Grand Valley State team, each team has the talent and potential to take home the cup.
Continue reading “Colin O’Brien’s MDC Preview with Prop Bets”
2015 Michigan Dodgeball Cup Preview
On Feb. 14th, Michigan State University will host the annual Michigan Dodgeball Cup (MDC). This event has historically been the toughest regular season tournament of the year. The 2015 version of the MDC has the makings of an absolute classic tournament with #1 Grand Valley State, #2 Central Michigan, #3 Michigan State, and #11 Saginaw Valley State all set to compete. I don’t remember a year where the top four Michigan region schools were as close competitively as they are this year. Continue reading “2015 Michigan Dodgeball Cup Preview”
Kentucky Invitational Preview
This weekend will feature two very interesting NCDA regular season tournaments. One will be played at DePaul University (Chicago Dodgeball Open) featuring two of the top teams in Michigan (Grand Valley State & Central Michigan) along with arguably the top two teams from the Illinois region (Wisconsin Platteville & DePaul).
The other tournament played over the weekend might be even more interesting than the CDO. On January 31, the University of Kentucky will play host to in state rival Western Kentucky, the top three Ohio teams: Ohio State, Kent State, and Bowling Green State, as well as an undefeated James Madison squad from the East Coast.
Here are a few storylines to follow in this mid-season showdown as UK. Continue reading “Kentucky Invitational Preview”
Nationals 2015 Preview #2 (All-Star Match)
The 2015 National Tournament is still a long ways off, but it’s never too early to look forward to the best weekend of the season. As mentioned in Nationals 2015 Preview #1, I have had the opportunity to discuss Nationals plans with Director of Nationals: Nick Johnson of Western Kentucky. Listed below are a few interesting facts on this year’s All Start Match.
Continue reading “Nationals 2015 Preview #2 (All-Star Match)”
Nationals 2015 Preview #1
The National Collegiate Dodgeball Association’s biggest event every season is the National Tournament. This year’s Nationals will be held at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Nationals may still be three months away, but I have had the opportunity to talk with Nick Johnson, the Director of Nationals, and he has given some insight to what he expects to be the best Nationals in the NCDA history.
I’ll be working with Nick to present some preview post periodically the next few months, giving some interesting information about this year’s Nationals in each post. So here is the “Nationals 2015 Preview #1”: Continue reading “Nationals 2015 Preview #1”
Buckeye Invite Preview
On Sunday November 9th, seven teams will attend the Buckeye Invite in Columbus, Ohio at OSU’s RPAC. The teams in attendance come from all over the Midwest. Making the long drive from Michigan are Michigan State who is only expecting to bring 11 players and Central Michigan who is bringing a fairly young squad due to many starters not being able to make the long journey. From Kentucky, Western Kentucky and the Wildcats will both be bringing full squads, not something teams are used to seeing out of WKU. From Ohio, the Buckeyes will have their full squad in attendance. Kent State will be attending the tournament as well, hoping to make a statement. And the seventh team in attendance will be NCDA newcomer Akron, who are excited to play their first inaugural matches in team history. Due to the large amount of teams in attendance, not every team will be playing each other, which is why there will be a fairly large amount of interesting match-ups this Sunday.
Tournament Schedule:
OSU: UK, MSU, Kent and WKU
Kent: Akron, WKU, OSU, CMU
Akron: Kent, UK, CMU, MSU
WKU: MSU, Kent, CMU, OSU
UK: OSU, CMU, Akron, MSU
MSU: WKU, OSU, UK, Akron
CMU: UK, WKU, Akron, Kent
MSU Invite Preview
The annual MSU Invite will take place this Sunday, Nov. 2nd at IM Sports West on Michigan State University’s campus. There will be a bit of a different flavor at this year’s event with two uncommon attendees making an appearance. Central Michigan and Grand Valley State will join host school Michigan State to give the MSU Invite three Michigan teams in attendance along with Western Kentucky, and DePaul.
An event known to have majority non-Michigan teams in attendance, the MSU Invite will give three Michigan teams the chance to compete thanks to MSU captain Colin O’Brien’s belief that several Michigan Teams participating in this event will only help the competition level. Here is my preview of what is turning into a very intriguing tournament.
Season Preview: James Madison
Location: Harrisonburg, Va.
NCDA Region: East Coast
2013-14 Record: 19-6
National Tournament Finish: Lost to GVSU in the Semifinals
2014-15 Captains: Ben Sizemore – C, Brent Gromer – A, Taylor Wilhelm – A
Returning Varsity Players: 18
Players to Watch: In the words of Captain Ben Sizemore: “All of us.”
Overview: What can I say about JMU that has not already been said? Yes, they are arguably the most talented team in the College Dodgeball. Continue reading “Season Preview: James Madison”
Season Preview: Towson
Location: Towson, MD
NCDA Region: East Coast
2013-14 Record: 9-8
National Tournament Finish: Lost to UMD in the first round
2014-15 Captains: President – Sean Smith, Chris Thomas – C, Joe Tobin – A, and Jon Shaw – A
Returning Varsity Players: 14
Players to Watch: Chris Thomas, Joe Tobin, Todd Givens Jr. and Nick Coates
Overview: Towson enters their fourth year as a member of the NCDA with a bit of optimism. Continue reading “Season Preview: Towson”
Season Preview: Bowling Green State
Location: Bowling Green, Oh
NCDA Region: Ohio
2013-14 Record: 3-13
National Tournament Finish: Lost to JMU in the first round
2014-15 Captains: Tyler Broyles, Adam Hynes, Brad Masters, Jake Tripplet, as well as Presidents-Tyrell Smith and Joel Hunter.
Returning Starters: 15
Players to Watch: Joel Hunter, Tyler Broyles, and Jake Tripplet
Overview: Bowling Green will come into the new season of NCDA dodgeball as the lowest ranked team from the Ohio region. Continue reading “Season Preview: Bowling Green State”
Central Michigan Invite Predictions
Teams Attending: Central Michigan, Michigan State, Grand Valley State, Ohio State, Bowling Green State, Kentucky and Western Kentucky.
These predictions were made by Kevin Bailey and myself…
Central Michigan: 4-0
CMU will be playing all 4 out of state teams this Saturday. Due to CMU returning every one of its starters from last year, they have a strong advantage against every team they will face due to their talent level and strong team chemistry. Of their 4 matches, their most intriguing matchup will be with Ohio State, who returned many of their starters and with Kentucky, who knocked CMU out of Nationals last season.
Grand Valley: 4-0
Due to Grand Valley’s recent success on the court, it is hard to believe that they won’t go 4-0 this Saturday when they play OSU, MSU, BGSU and WKU. Although they are only returning 10 of their starters from last year, GVSU has a large JV pool they pull from each year which is certainly one of the reasons why they are able to restock their lineup year after year. Their most intriguing matchup will be against MSU. The two had close matchups all of last season, lets hope it’s just as competitive as it has been in years past. Continue reading “Central Michigan Invite Predictions”
Season Preview: Grand Valley State
Location: Allendale, MI
NCDA Region: Michigan
2013-2014 Record: 32-1
National Tournament Finish: Won it all.
2014-2015 Captains: Kevin Bailey – C, Dylan Fettig – A, Aaron Terenzi – A
Returning Starters: 10
Season Preview: Saginaw Valley State
Location: Saginaw, MI
NCDA Region: Michigan
2013-14 Record: 22-6
National Tournament Finish: Lost to GVSU in Championship Game
2014-15 Captains: Nathan Council – C, Max Siler – A, Blake Grivetti – A
Returning Starters: 9
Players to Watch: Cody Putnam, Kyle Foster, Nathan Council – C, Max Siler – A, Blake Grivetti – A
Overview: SVSU has historically been an elite team in the NCDA. Continue reading “Season Preview: Saginaw Valley State”