Spartan Invite Preview #2


For all of you reading this, especially for those of you from Michigan State or Grand Valley I will do my best to be as unbiased as I possibly can, unlike my fellow content writers Colin O’Brien and Kevin Bailey. I don’t think anyone was in the least bit surprised when Kevin chose Grand Valley to beat MSU 2-0 at home or that “it won’t require OT” for GVSU to take down CMU. I don’t expect Colin to be as biased but I still plan on him selecting MSU to go 4-0. While I have just as much faith in CMU to go 4-0, I plan to shake things up. Am I really willing to predict that CMU is going to lose a close one this Sunday after their OT victory over MSU and absolute demolition of SVSU? I mean is anyone really surprised Saginaw is on an entire tier below the other three Michigan teams this year? Well I’m not. But before I let myself get carried away, lets get to my preview.

Niko Nodal, Depaul's very own All-American and Captain will look to prove that his team has not taken as much of a fall from last year as many believe.
Niko Nodal, Depaul’s very own All-American and Captain will look to prove that his team has not taken as much of a fall from last year as many believe.

Depaul, Kent State and Bowling Green State are making the trip up to East Lansing this Sunday and while the Average Joe may not have high expectations for these teams, I on the other hand do.

Let’s start with Depaul. The Blue Demons have gotten off to a rough start this season but what can you expect?! These guys and gals lost over 10 plus seniors from last season. I don’t care what team you are on, if your team loses that many players your team is bound to struggle, especially in the first half of the season. I have had the pleasure of knowing Depaul’s go to player and Captain Niko Nodal. This man knows how to play the game of dodgeball, but my biggest question for him is how is he as a leader? Depaul is infamously known for not taking the game of dodgeball too seriously and simply enjoying the game. If Niko can be the first Depaul captain to do that then I expect big things from this team, but until then I expect Depaul to be the same old Depaul, which is still a fun team to always play against.

Treanna (on the right) will look to provide a spark to her team this weekend.
Treanna (on the right) will look to provide a spark to her team this weekend.

BGSU, where do I start?! You guys brought an impressive squad to Nationals and decided to replace talent with a bunch of cute looking girls. I am at a loss. Part of me wants to yell at you guys for not keeping the prospective talent you had from a year ago but then I take a look at the females on your team. Other then being cute and having solid personalities, these girls know how to play dodgeball!! Treanna Bidlack is a straight badass. That girl was a standout player on your team last year and if the leaders of this team were smart they would do everything they can to get her more involved on this team.

Kent State. Don’t really know where to start with you. You currently have the second most amount of wins in the league right now but more then half of them are against teams that either joined the league last year or are brand new this year. Don’t expect anyone to take you seriously until you beat a team of at least decent talent. This reason alone is why I assume you are making the trip up this weekend to East Lansing. You will have an opportunity to take down MSU and CMU. While your odds are slim, in order to be considered the best you must beat the best.

If MSU goes 4-0 this weekend, Alex Zajac (dude wearing the turtle neck) will be a big reason why.
If MSU goes 4-0 this weekend, Alex Zajac (dude wearing the turtle neck) will be a big reason why.

Michigan State. Luckily for me, many of you are a friend of mine, which makes this even easier to write for me. Due to the proximity of where I am living this year, I have had the privilege of practicing with these guys on a weekly basis and with each practice I am more certain that this team has what it takes to win a National Championship. It all comes down to their leaders stepping up when it counts and developing their young talent. These gentleman will have their hands full with CMU and GVSU this weekend but they scheduled them for a reason and if they can get a home crowd they have a very realistic chance at going 4-0 on Sunday.

As much as I enjoy seeing Grand Valley lose, I have only had the privilege of seeing that happen four times!! This team rarely loses and that is because of their top-six talent year in and year out, their ability to recruit and the leadership of Kevin Bailey. But that is all the praise I am going to give to my good friend, he gets enough of it as it is. If GVSU plans on going 4-0 let alone 3-1 this sunday, their overtime six will need to play at their best primarily because the talent on their team drops off incredibly after that and because they have a very realistic chance of going to OT with both MSU and CMU once again.

It is no surprise that Mike "Magic" Riley will need to have a big weekend for the Chippewas to go 4-0 this weekend.
It is no surprise that “Magic Mike” Riley will need to have a big weekend for the Chippewas to go 4-0 this weekend.

That leaves my boys out of Mount Pleasant for last. Central Michigan. I don’t think too many people will disagree with me when I say this team has the deepest team in the league in terms of talent for players 1-15. These guys have the most unique team chemistry I have ever been a part of and I love every second of it. They yell, laugh, cheer and curse at their teammates like it is their job. And for some strange reason, it works for them. This is the most fun I have ever had on a team before and I am confident when I say that many of my teammates would agree with me.

 

Predictions:

CMU: 3-1

MSU: 3-1

GVSU: 3-1

BGSU: 1-2

Kent: 1-3

Depaul: 0-3

No, I will not say which team I think each Michigan team will lose to because I don’t even know. GVSU, MSU and CMU are each at .500 against each other right now, with a total of 5 overtime games between them. That is insane and even more insane to try and predict. Regardless, I expect there to be multiple close matches between teams from Michigan and Ohio and look forward to playing and spectating for as many as I possibly can.

Good luck to all teams competing this weekend!

Author: Jacob Leski

Former President of Central Michigan's Club Dodgeball team. 2x First Team All-American (2015, 2016). 2nd year as Director of League Expansion and Retention.

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