King of the Mountain Tournament 2

Well, it is the weekend and that means it is tournament time with some of the top teams in the country going head to head at the King of the Mountain 2.  This means it is time for another preview by the top content writer in the NCDA. (I know Kevin Bailey, Colby Briceland, and Hunter Ford are jealous, as they should be).

The teams in attendance are: Central Michgan University (CMU), Grand Valley State University (GVSU), Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU), James Madison University, (JMU), and the University of Wisconsin Platteville (UWP). These teams are currently ranked: CMU #1, GVSU #2, JMU #3, SVSU #6, and UWP #10. Here is the schedule for this Saturday, November 4, 2017, at the Student Activity Center (360 E Broomfield St. Mount Pleasant, MI 48858).

Court 1 Court 2 Referee
11:00 CMU vs GVSU SVSU vs JMU UWP
12:10 CMU vs JMU UWP vs GVSU SVSU
1:20 CMU vs UWP SVSU vs GVSU JMU
2:30 GVSU vs JMU UWP vs SVSU CMU

The following are the thoughts from leaders of each team and content writer Kevin Bailey, followed by some predictions by Felix Perrone, Hunter Ford, Colby Briceland, Kevin Bailey, and Jacob Leski. Zig includes the Gonzalez exchanges.

CMU vs GVSU

Kevin Bailey (Chief of Content) – “Central Michigan and Grand Valley State will clash for a third time this season on Saturday in Mt. Pleasant. CMU has clearly held the upper hand so far this season, but as GVSU continues to settle in this year and gain more experience, I expect them to have a better shot to take down the Chippewas.  Will they take their first win from CMU this weekend? That’s a tough ask. Central will be on their home court with a full roster.”

ZM- 11:00 CMU (55.835) v GVSU (52.666) for .683 as predicted [or as a technical upset: 1.317 as #94/260 total technical upsets]
Felix Perrone– CMU def GVSU 3-1
Hunter Ford-GVSU def CMU 3-2
Colby Briceland– CMU def GVSU 3-1
Kevin Bailey– GVSU def CMU 3-2 OT
Jacob Leski– CMU def GVSU 4-2

SVSU vs JMU

Kenny Mize (SVSU) – “Being apart of every JMU match in the last 5 years, I can say that this is one of the most underrated teams. I never sleep on these guys, they all have cannons. I expect us to be the match of the day, especially with how our match went at nationals. With that being said, there will be head shots, catches, and red chests after this match.  The team that makes the best plays will win. Prediction 3-2 OT SV.”

ZM– 11:00 JMU (48.618) v SVSU (46.747) for .813 [or 1.187 as #145/260]
FP
– JMU def SVSU 3-2 OT
HF– JMU def SVSU 3-2 OT
CB– SVSU def JMU 4-3 OT
KB– JMU def SVSU 4-3 OT
JL– JMU def SVSU 4-3 OT

ZM– wow, since everyone is calling for OT; there is a 8.15% overall chance of OT, and this exchange (.813) falls within 68% of historical Overtimes exchanges (.332<>.929). Take that as you will.

CMU vs JMU

Casey Bielec (CMU) – “I’m not really sure what to expect from JMU this Saturday. We know they have a bunch of big arms and love picking people off one at a time. The last time we played each other was two years ago, but they were a different team and so were we. This weekend should be fun.”

ZM– 12:10 CMU (56.518) v JMU (49.431) for .291 [or 1.709 as #12/260]
FP
– CMU def JMU 4-1
HF– CMU def JMU 3-0
CB– CMU def JMU 3-0
KB– CMU def JMU 4-2
JL– CMU def JMU 4-2

UWP vs GVSU

Will Martin (UWP) – “What can I say about Grand Valley? They have arms like cannons, and hands as soft as a fleece blanket. Dominant players spring up left and right from that little corner of Michigan. They are a model program. They’ve been at the top of the league the entire time that I have been in college. But not anymore. The downward spiral that started for this club with their loss to CMU will continue this weekend when Platteville crosses the great lake to face this great team. I hope they bring their oven mitts. Because we’re bringing the heat.” ( EZ- Bringing the heat, according to the predictions below, that is not the case. )

ZM– 12:10 GVSU (51.983) v UWP (44.216) for .223 [or 1.777 as #7/260]
FP
– GVSU def UWP 5-0
HF– GVSU def UWP 3-0
CB– GVSU def UWP 3-0
KB– GVSU def UWP 4-0
JL– GVSU def UWP 5-1

CMU vs UWP

Erik Zander (UWP) – “I’m looking forward to this match, the last time we played CMU it was two years ago, at the last King of the Mountain and Platteville lost  4-0. That was back when Jacob Leski was on the team (terrible catcher back then).  This time around, I’m hoping Platteville can take a point on these guys. We have some more experienced players going to the event so we are going to have to rely on them until the freshmen adjust to the dominant CMU team this season. Our main hope for this game, is to gain valuable experience that we can learn from to improve for the rest of the year.”

ZM– 1:20 CMU (56.809) v UWP (43.993) for .01 [or 2. as #1/260]
FP
– CMU def UWP 4-0
HF– CMU def UWP 4-0
CB– CMU def UWP 4-0
KB– CMU def UWP 4-0
JL– CMU def UWP 6-0

SVSU vs GVSU

Brandon Meisel (GVSU) – “GVSU vs SVSU is always quite a show down. Both teams have guys with big arms and plenty of catching ability; the game should be fun to watch. The trash talk will also be quite lively, as I’m sure it will be in abundance. If you will be in the building, I recommend making an appearance at this game.”

ZM– 1:20 GVSU (52.206) v SVSU (45.934) for .373 [or 1.627 as #17/260]
FP
– GVSU def SVSU 4-1
HF– GVSU def SVSU 3-1
CB– GVSU def SVSU 3-1
KB– GVSU def SVSU 3-2
JL– GVSU def SVSU 4-2

GVSU vs JMU

Doug Schilling (JMU) – “I’m expecting our game against Grand Valley to be a well fought one on both sides. For us, it’s a bit of a chance to show that what they did to us at nationals last year is behind us, and for them, it’s a chance to silence the people who think they’re not top dogs in the league anymore.  I’m excited to get our young guys this experience against an experienced and well disciplined team, and I’m sure they’re excited to see us this early in the year. I know they’re going to come out hot to try and make a statement, but we’re going to do what we can to play our game and show people that we’re not messing around this year.”

ZM– 2:30 GVSU (52.579) v JMU (49.139) for .656 [or 1.344 as #87/260]
FP
– GVSU def JMU 4-2
HF– GVSU def JMU 2-1
CB– GVSU def JMU 3-1
KB– GVSU def JMU 3-1
JL– JMU def GVSU 4-2

UWP vs SVSU

Louis Thompson (UWP) – “Last year when UWP went up against SVSU we didn’t stand a chance against them and I don’t expect a much different outcome this year. This year we have a much better squad that is hungry for wins so I expect us to put up a much better fight and take a point or two.”

ZM– 2:30 SVSU (45.562) v UWP (43.983) for .842 [or 1.158 as #161/260]
FP
– SV def UWP 3-2 OT
HF– SVSU def UWP 3-0
CB– SVSU def UWP 3-0
KB– SVSU def UWP 3-1
JL– SVSU def UWP 5-2

Expectations

This is a big weekend for all teams involved and each one has something to prove.

  • CMU is trying to prove that they are no fluke and they are the #1 team.
  • GVSU has a lot to prove, that they are not down this year, and they can easily make it back to the top.
  • JMU wants to show that they are just as good as the Michigan teams, and that teams should give them the respect they deserve.
  • SVSU wants to show that they can also win in the first semester too and are not just a strong-second-half-of-the-season team. They want to show the other Michgan schools that they can beat the top teams and that SVSU is a contender.
  • UWP wants to get the experience in and show that they can provide any team with a quality game that is fun and worth the time.

A special thanks to all the captains, players, content writers, and board members for helping highlight the games and for providing predictions.  So now we ask the league, what are you expectations and predictions for the games? What team will reign supreme and be the King of the Mountain?

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