Category: Previews

On Sunday November 9^th, 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

Continue reading “Buckeye Invite Preview”

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”

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”

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”

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”

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

Continue reading “Season Preview: Grand 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”

Location: Columbus, Oh.

NCDA Region: Ohio

2013-14 Record: 7-8

National Tournament Finish: Lost to WKU in the first round

2014-15 Captains: Josh Conner – C, Jeff Starr – A, Marshall Winterbotham – A

Returning Starters: 14

Players to Watch: Chris Stringer, Nick Fausnight, Paul Peters, Sam Palumbo, Dan Grainger, Noah Brown, Nico Wong, Josh Conner – C, Jeff Starr – A, and Marshall Winterbotham – A

Overview: Ohio State enters the 2014-15 season with a bit more hype than most teams that lost in the first round of the national tournament.   Continue reading “Season Preview: Ohio State”

Location: Lexington, Ky.

NCDA Region: Kentucky

2013-14 Record: 6-7

National Tournament Finish: Lost to SVSU in the Quarterfinals

2014-15 Captains: Brandon Engelman – C

Returning Starters: 8

Players to Watch: Zac Brown #13, Brandon Engelman #23, Drew Greenawalt #37

Overview: The NCDA’s National Tournament will make it’s way back to the state of Kentucky for the second time in three seasons in 2015 when it is hosted by Western Kentcuky. Continue reading “Season Preview: Kentucky”

Location: College Park, MD

NCDA Region: East Coast

2013-14 Record: 9-10

National Tournament Finish: Lost to GVSU in the Quarterfinals

2014-15 Captains: Dylan Allred – C, Tyler Wieland – A, Steve Via -A, Cody Hance -A

Returning Varsity Players: 15

Players to Watch: Rohan Mittal, Mike Cariello, Tyler Wieland, Curtis Reybold

Overview:  Maryland will enter the season with higher expectations than ever before. Continue reading “Season Preview: Maryland”

Location: East Lansing, Mich.

NCDA Region: Michigan

2013-14 Record: 10-13

National Tournament Finish: Lost to SVSU in the Semifinals

2014-15 Captains: Colin O’Brien #18 – C, Andy Lieblich #20 – A, Alex Zajac #27 – A

Returning Varsity Players: 20 (18 from Nationals)

Players to Watch: Colin O’Brien #18 – C, Andy Lieblich #20 – A, Alex Zajac #27 – A, Noe Galaviz, & Charlie Wilshire

Overview: For a team that has never won an NCDA National Championship, the Michigan State Dodgeball program has built up quite the resume. Continue reading “Season Preview: Michigan State”

Location: Bowling Green, Ky.

NCDA Region: Kentucky

2013-14 Record: 4-10

National Tournament Finish: Lost to JMU in the Quarterfinals

2014-15 Captains: Nick Johnson – C, & Hunter Dickison – C

Returning Varsity Players: 8

Players to Watch: Josh Hicks, Dexter Banks, & Nick Johnson

Overview:  Western Kentucky comes into the 2014-15 campaign with quite a bit of momentum.   Continue reading “Season Preview: Western Kentucky”