At the Sagnasty Classic, Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU), Grand Valley State University (GVSU), and Western Michigan University (WMU) competed in several good games this past weekend. The records for the day were: GVSU 3-0, SVSU 1-2, and WMU 0-2. Below are the scores from this tournament:
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 | Score |
| SVSU | 8 | WMU | 0 |
| GVSU | 4 | SVSU | 2 |
| GVSU | 6 | WMU | 2 |
| GVSU | 3 | SVSU | 0 |
The following questions were asked of the captains of each team about the event that weekend.
Erik Zander-What surprised you the most about your opponents that you were not expecting?
Matt Barnett (WMU)– I was surprised by both teams and their style of play. They were both really fast and chased us down right after our team would throw.
Bryce Stevens (SVSU)-There wasn’t a whole lot of surprises when it came to the depth and talent of rookies that GVSU brought to this tournament. But WMU was surprisingly deep in talent. I wouldn’t be surprised to see WMU cause some serious trouble in the near future.
Ben Smart (GVSU)-SVSU is looking more organized. They are communicating better but then also tried playing transition against us at times. WMU didn’t look too bad. They weren’t running around with their heads cut off. Matt Barnett is doing something right at WMU but another good thing to see is that WMU players were asking what they could do better and improve.
EZ-What did your team do well and what do they need to work on?
MB-My team did well adapting to grand valley’s style of play and trying to implement it, we need to work on having more than 11 people show up for a tournament.
BS (SVSU)-We did a good job as a team playing our roles individually. We will continue to work on techniques and get better at moving and communicating and as a unit.
BS (GVSU)-I hold high expectations for our team and I did not prepare my team well enough for our first tournament. Yeah, we went 3-0 on the day but we have things to work on. Big thing is communication, knowing our strategy but also getting the younger players in the game and try playing against other teams.
EZ-Who stood out to you at this tournament?
MB-Honestly, all my players had their moments at the Sagnasty Classic. It’d be a disservice to only shout out a few of my players. Number 31, SVSU’s captain Cole Machiela, really stood out to me in his play.
BS (SVSU)-WMU stood out to me as a team. The looked really solid and they played a great game against GVSU. Our rookie that stood out to me was Owen Folson. Even though this was his first tournament he adjusted really well.
BS (GVSU)-SVSU it was Joe Barber and Cole Machiela. Joe Barber had some great kills but even better crosses. Cole Machiela did a great job staying in the game and not leaving himself open as much as last year due to the new captain role. For WMU, it was Matt Barnett who did a great job leading the team when he was on and off the court. Now for GVSU, it was Luke Holicky and Jaymen Gutierrez. On the day, Luke Holicky did an amazing job on our right side playing transition and also getting several catches. Now, the league doesn’t know much about Jaymen Gutierrez yet but they honestly will soon. He is one of our top rookies and balled out during this tournament by getting outs in transition, making multiple catches, and was huge on communication.
My Thoughts-
SVSU– For their first tournament of the year they looked solid. They took care of business against WMU without any issues and even started out strong against GVSU in the first game to taking the first point to only lose 4-2 and the second 3-0. To a team such as a Grand Valley, who are used to winning games by several points that says a lot about the talent these Cardinals have. They will be much tougher this year and don’t be surprised if by nationals they are a top 10 team in the nation.
WMU– This was the second tournament of the year for the Broncos and there is a lot that they can build off. WMU is looking better each match they play. At times, while watching their games, I could see that they looked in control and were playing both SVSU and GVSU really well, but the inexperience took over. They would get too aggressive, throw too many balls, and give up ball control, which hurt them and led to some quick points by their opponents. For a young team, they play really well and look for those mistakes to be less as the season goes on and they are able to bring full rosters to tournaments.
GVSU- In their first tournament of the year, GVSU did really well, they started out a little slow against SVSU but turned things around as one expects from last year’s champions. They brought in some new rookies who played well as do most rookies from GVSU. I know GVSU would have liked to put up more points on their opponents and gave up less points, but for their first action of the year the Lakers should be happy with the results.