With plenty of match-ups across the country, this weekend should be a solid one for the NCDA. With a round robin at James Madison, a round robin at Miami, and a rivalry game between GVSU and MSU, there is dodgeball all across the NCDA going down. Continue reading “Games This Weekend- December 1st and 2nd”
Category: Previews
Top Teams Clash in Allendale
Two historic programs collide as the #3 Michigan State Spartans (7-1-0) and the #6 Grand Valley State Lakers (3-1-0) will play a match December 2nd at the Grand Valley Fieldhouse Arena. Expect a great atmosphere as the Lakers try to stay unbeaten all-time against the Spartans, but this game should be a close one.
MSU Invite Preview
EAST LANSING – IM West:
The fourth annual MSU Invite is the next big tournament on the NCDA docket after the Maryland Invite, and it should be a great one. Hosted by the Michigan State Spartans, they will be joined by Bowling Green, Central Michigan, DePaul, Kent State, and Moody Bible Institute. All six teams attending have played at least one match against a team in the tournament, but none of them have played matches against teams in their pool. The tournament is split into two separate three team pools, and everyone plays everyone in their pool. Then the first place team in each pool plays each other, the second place teams play each other, and the third place teams play each other.
Maryland Invite Preview
University of Maryland Tournament Preview
COLLEGE PARK – Reckord Armory: This weekend features a great tournament at Bowling Green, but eyes will also be focused on the East Coast this Sunday as the University of Maryland hosts a variety of teams including Towson University (TU), Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), James Madison University (JMU), last year’s regular season champion Kent State, and last year’s National finalist University of Kentucky (UK).
Bowling Green Round Robin Preview
BOWLING GREEN – Perry Fieldhouse: BGSU will be hosting a tournament this weekend, featuring some of the biggest names in college dodgeball, as the Falcons will be joined by Central Michigan, Grand Valley, Saginaw Valley, and Miami. Continue reading “Bowling Green Round Robin Preview”
Five Elite Programs Attending OSU Round Robin
COLUMBUS: With the Buckeyes, Golden Flashes, Cardinals, Spartans, and Wildcats all heading to Columbus for a round robin, what is likely the second deepest tournament of the regular season (behind the Michigan Dodgeball Cup) could go to any of the attending teams. All five teams attending made the 2012 NCDA National Tournament Quarterfinals, three of them made the semifinals, and Kentucky and Saginaw Valley played for the title. The two teams that didn’t make the semifinals (Ohio State and Michigan State) both lost to teams in the OSU Round Robin by one point in the quarterfinals. There are also many rivalries in play here, whether its a Big Ten battle between MSU and OSU, or instate rivalries for Michigan and Ohio supremacy, or traditional dodgeball rivalries like SVSU/OSU or Kent State/Kentucky, nearly all the games will have some meaning. Teams are also getting to play other teams for the first time in a long time, like Kent State playing SVSU, and MSU playing Kentucky. Continue reading “Five Elite Programs Attending OSU Round Robin”
Second Weekend of the 2012-2013 Season Continues the Rivalry Theme
After Depaul beat in-town rival Moody Bible Institute last Friday, the 2012-2013 season continues with two big rivalry matches. Leading up to the football game between the two schools, the University of Kentucky will host Western Kentucky University on Saturday. Both of these schools have made noise in previous seasons, including UK being the National Runner Up last season. Featuring Wes Hopkins, the hardest thrower in the NCDA, the WIldcats will look to continue a great home court record as they play the Hilltoppers. Kentucky went 4-2 in 2011-2012 at home, including a victory over WKU. The Hilltoppers will have a new look with Alex Sorrels at the helm, but the team should remain a good one. WKU only played four matches, going 2-2, outside of Nationals 2012, but the two losses were both to Kentucky. However, the two losses were each by one point, so WKU has a good chance in this one. If WKU can minimize the damage done by Hopkins and control the balls they can pull off the upset, but if they cannot, they could be in trouble. For the Wildcats, they’ll need more players to step up like they did at Nationals and prove that last season wasn’t a fluke. This could be an early indication if Kentucky is ready to stay with the dodgeball elite and could give them some momentum going into the first major tournament of the season, the Ohio State Round Robin.
The other game this weekend is between Kent State and The Ohio State University. The Buckeyes are traveling to Kent for the big matchup of possibly the top two schools in the state of Ohio, and the Golden Flashes went 3-1 against their in-state rivals. OSU did take their one win at Kent State however. Both teams have new leadership at the top, with Kyle Fitzpatrick gone for Kent State, leaving Dan Shackelford and Camden Fullmer in charge, and with Ryan Carlton and Jude DuPart taking over for Ohio State. The Buckeyes will look to use their slow down approach to take an advantage over the free flowing, fast moving Flashes, and they’ll need to make some key catches to come out with 2 points. If Kent State can maximize their arm strength and play with some tenacity then they could win this matchup, but it should also be a close one. These two teams will also compete in the Ohio State Round Robin in October, so we could see a rematch very soon.
Michigan Region Season Preview
In this series of articles preparing for the 2013 season, we’ll hope to look at a number of teams around the NCDA, as well as their home courts and venues. Take a look at the Michigan region and teams SVSU, CMU, MSU, and GVSU. Continue reading “Michigan Region Season Preview”