Leading into Nationals, we look to spotlight as many teams as we can in hopes of shining a bright light on standouts from participating teams. These glow-ups include up to 2 of each team’s standout rookies as well as a handful of core contributing players that have gotten their respective team to where they are going into the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association’s annual finale. Lastly, we get a glance into each participating team’s mindset and expectations going into Nationals.
Cardinals’ Rookie Spotlight
Cole is a very well rounded dodgeball player. He is fast, he can catch, he can throw, he can block, he can do everything a veteran can. I (Bryce Stevens) made Cole an assistant captain after the first semester because of his shear talent and leadership. SVSU hasn’t seen an athlete like Cole since SVSU great Kyle Bruce. Cole is the best rookie you could ask for. Not only for his insane play on the floor with catching and throwing, but he’s a great leader and assistant captain in only his first year playing. Cole has the court awareness of a 4 year veteran. Cole is definitely our rookie of the year candidate.
Scotty is another young talent that is very well rounded. Scotty is debatably our best role player. He is great at defending his teammates and being a great blocker. He may not have the strongest arm on the team but definitely has the aim to be a confident thrower on the court. In the next couple years Scotty will be a force to be reckoned with.
Key Contributors for the Cardinals
Bryce Stevens
Bryce is in his first year as head captain this year. Bryce has really stepped up this year in terms of play and leadership. He is a great leader on and off the court who has been an integral part in getting our rookies up to speed. Bryce’s play on the court has really improved this year with both catching and throwing.
Tristan Baller
Tristan is a second year player who is assistant captain this year. Tristan showed lots of great promise for the season but is now dealing with a serious injury which is limiting what he can do. He is still not someone to be taken lightly.
Joe Barber
Joe is definitely one of top two arms this year. Joe is our number 1 killer and is someone you don’t want throwing at you and is agile enough to catch in transition after throwing.
Chris Rucker
Chris is our secret weapon, who is criminally underrated still. Chris is one of our hardest throwers, best catchers, and just overall a key part to all our teams strategies.
Mindset for Nationals – Cole Machiela
“Our mindset as a team is to play together as a team. Play smooth and fast but most importantly smart. As a team we need to catch the ones we should and throw smart and if we do this we should hopefully make a deep run at nationals.”