Akron – NCDA

The War VI

2023 Ohio Dodgeball Cup Preview

The 2023 Ohio Dodgeball Cup will take place this Saturday, February 25th. Ohio State University will be host to this year’s tournament which features an 8-team, single-elimination bracket to determine the winner. There are several legitimate contenders to win it this year, which will undoubtedly lead to high drama late in the day. Below is an analysis for each team provided by Content Team members Ethan Lehmkuhl and Kevin Skiba.

Viking Royale Recap

On February 4th, Cleveland State University held the Viking Royale. Teams in attendance were Cleveland State University, Miami University (OH), Western Michigan University, Saginaw Valley State University, Kent State University, Akron University, and Ohio State University. Below are the results for the day.

Pre-Trophy Preview Ohio Region

As time grows closer to the Ohio Dodgeball Cup and Nationals, let’s take a step back and look at all the Ohio schools and their season so far. The following teams in this region are: Ohio Univeristy, University of Cincinnati, Ohio State University, University of Akron, Bowling Green State University, Miami University, Cleveland State Univeristy, and Kent State University. We asked respondents from each school these questions about how they felt their season has gone and general knowledge about their clubs.

1. Who is your OT6 (please include if they are a captain, rookie, etc)?

2. Anything notable go well for you at these tournaments? Anything you need to improve on?

3. Any changes for your team heading into the spring semester?

4. Which tournament are you most excited for this spring?

5. What team would you most like to play?

6. Do you have any rising players on your team you’d like to give a shoutout?

7. How will your team do this spring?

8. Please list 3 players you think should be on AA and womens AA (not including your team).

9. Please list 1 rookie youve been impressed by (not including your team).

10. Please give us your thoughts on 1 team ranked above you and 1 team ranked below you.

Viking Royale Preview

The Viking Royale, hosted by Cleveland State University, will be the first tournament of the spring semester for all 7 teams attending. It is looking to be a very competitive tournament, with every team hoping to come out hot as we approach regional and national championships.

Teams in attendance:

Akron, Miami, CSU, SVSU, WMU, KSU, and OSU

Court 1 Stream: CSU Dodgeball YouTube

Court 2 Stream: OSU Dodgeball YouTube

November 2022 wROTM – Abby Emery

Since September 2019, the NCDA has been recognizing rookie players that make a statement on the court through their skills, leadership, and ability to mobilize a team. For the first time in NCDA history, there is a Women’s league and with comes another opportunity to recognize the women in the league for their accomplishments and stellar play. Our Women’s Rookie of the Month goes to Abby Emery of the University of Akron. She has improved considerably as the season has gone on and will continue to be an asset for her team going forward. Ethan Lehmkuhl (Ohio State) took some time to interview this exceptionally talented player. Take a look at the interview below:

Pink Out VII Recap

This past weekend the University of Akron held the 7th Annual Pink Out tournament and it did not disappoint! There were several good games and a lot of surprises that most were not expecting. This tournament gave us a better idea who the top teams are in the league and what we should expect at future events. Let’s take a look on how each team did on the day as seen by Kathryn Mays (OSU) and Ethan Lehmkuhl (OSU).

Pink Out VII

Pink Out VII Preview

This weekend, Akron University will host their 7th Annual Pink Out tournament. This year looks to be a special tournament, with 11 teams in attendance from the Ohio, Michigan, and East Coast regions – we hope to learn a lot about these teams. It is also worth noting that half of these teams are ranked in the top 10 in the latest Power Rankings. This will be a prime opportunity for each of these teams to prove their worth and gain valuable on-court experience. We asked each of these teams to tell us about their biggest leaders, rookies, expectations, strengths, and more. Check it out!

Akron vs CSU Double Header

September 2022 BOTM – PJ Antalek

PJ Antalek is September’s Baller of the Month! He is an Akron captain and member of the 2022 All-Ohio team. Nicole Cutich got the chance to interview PJ at practice, and they talked about players in the league, his pregame rituals, his iconic overtime hit against BGSU, how he apparently doesn’t know what a walk up song is and more. Congratulations PJ!

JBBBIII Recap

Ten teams made the trip to Ohio University on October 1st to play in the John Betters’ Bobcat Bonanza III. We saw a few teams make their first appearance of the season including last year’s runner up, Michigan State, while others were looking to improve on past performances. Of the 18 matches played only one ended with a single point difference. What does this say about the teams this season? We’ll go team by team and breakdown what these matches showed us and what to look for in coming tournaments. Also, stay tuned for the Women’s Tournament Recap article.

Cleveland State huddling up during a match at JBBBIII

JBBB3 Preview

Introduction

Ohio University is hosting one of the largest tournaments that we will see in most fall semesters to come – the 3^rd Annual John Betters Bobcat Bonanza! This club will play host to nine other teams that will make the trip to Athens, OH and try and earn themselves a few wins on the weekend. Will the Bobcats continue their hot streak on their home turf? Will Michigan State continue the dominance it started last year by knocking of Cincinnati and Ohio in their own state? To answer those questions, let’s take a look into the schools taking the trip to the beautiful campus.

RedHawk Classic Recap

Last weekend at the RedHawk Classic, Miami University, University of Akron, Bowling Green State University, and the University of Wisconsin Platteville battled it out in some highly competitive games. The records for the day: UWP 3-0, Akron 2-1, BGSU 1-2, and Miami 0-3. Below are the scores from this tournament:

Buckeye Showcase Recap

There’s never a dull weekend in Columbus. Last Sunday’s Buckeye Showcase proved to be the most exhilarating season opener yet (and arguably the most exciting thing to happen in Columbus that weekend). Ohio State hosted 5 schools for the third annual Buckeye Showcase, and my oh my, what a day of close matches. Obviously, teams can change a lot between the start of the season and Nationals, but if these teams continue to play like they did at the Showcase, the Ohio Region very well could claim the National Title this season.

If you weren’t at this event, the above claim probably doesn’t hold a lot of weight – there’s a lot to unpack. Let’s go team by team to evaluate what we saw and speculate the future of these teams.