Colin O’Brien’s MDC Preview with Prop Bets

MDC Trophy

The Michigan Dodgeball Cup is the premier annual tournament of the Michigan region. Hosted every February by Michigan State, these matches are often previews of the semi-finals and final matches of Nationals. MSU and SVSU have played great matches at each of the last two Nationals, with each winner going on to lose to GVSU in the championship. This year, the MDC is the most competitive and wide open that it has been in my three years in the league. Even with an undefeated Grand Valley State team, each team has the talent and potential to take home the cup.

Continue reading “Colin O’Brien’s MDC Preview with Prop Bets”

2015 Michigan Dodgeball Cup Preview

MDC TrophyOn Feb. 14th, Michigan State University will host the annual Michigan Dodgeball Cup (MDC).  This event has historically been the toughest regular season tournament of the year.  The 2015 version of the MDC has the makings of an absolute classic tournament with #1 Grand Valley State, #2 Central Michigan, #3 Michigan State, and #11 Saginaw Valley State all set to compete.  I don’t remember a year where the top four Michigan region schools were as close competitively as they are this year. Continue reading “2015 Michigan Dodgeball Cup Preview”

Chicago Dodgeball Open Recap

Over the weekend, DePaul University hosted their annual Chicago Dodgeball Open.  This year was a bit different than CDOs in the past thanks in large part to the terrible weather.  A tournament that usually involves five or six teams, only had three teams in attendance.  Central Michigan, Grand Valley State, and host school DePaul competed in a three team round robin.  Wisconsin Platteville could not make the trip due to the bad driving conditions on account of the Blizzard [-Ed., ZM]

The results from the tournament were as follows: GVSU went 2-0, CMU went 1-1, DePaul went 0-2.  Here is my brief recap from this year’s Chicago Dodgeball Open: Continue reading “Chicago Dodgeball Open Recap”

GVSU Invite #2 Recap

Grand Valley State University’s dodgeball team hosted the second of their two fall tournaments this past weekend, and it turned out to be a very interesting day of dodgeball.  In attendance were four Michigan teams: Grand Valley State, Michigan State, Central Michigan, and Davenport (Kent State was scheduled to attend but was unable to make the trip, therefor they forfeited each game they were scheduled to play).

This event did not particularly go as most would have expected.  The records for each team at this tournament are as follows (remember each team earned a win by forfeit against Kent): GVSU: 4-0, CMU: 3-1, MSU: 1-3, DU: 1-1, Kent, 0-4 [F].  Here is my recap of each game played at this tournament which unquestionably proved that the NCDA (especially the Michigan region) is WIDE OPEN this season! Continue reading “GVSU Invite #2 Recap”

GVSU vs. CMU: an “Instant Classic”

Grand Valley hosted their second tournament of the year this past weekend.  Arguably the most surprising result from this event was the game between GVSU and in-state opponent Central Michigan.  The final score was GVSU-2 CMU-1 in Overtime!

No, you don’t need to refresh this webpage, or restart your computer or anything like that, because you read the score correctly: GVSU vs. CMU went to overtime.  This game was certainly an “instant classic”, and in my opinion is the game people will look back on as the restoration of Central Michigan Dodgeball as one of the elite college dodgeball teams nationally.  Here is a recap of what is to this point in the year, one of the best games of the NCDA’s 2014-15 season: Continue reading “GVSU vs. CMU: an “Instant Classic””

AJP: GVSU Edition #2

GVSU LogoGVSU Captain Kevin Bailey, along with teammates Aaron Terenzi and Austin Morley, recap the matches that have taken place after the New Year, and gear up for Nationals 2014 in April at OSU. Also: Kyle Peltier [GVSU #19] describes the Officials’ App.

Published under the Average Joes’ Podcast umbrella.

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AJP: GVSU Edition #1: RedHawk Invite

GVSU LogoGVSU Captain Kevin Bailey, along with teammates Aaron Terenzi and Austin Morley, recap the “RedHawk Invite” and give their opinions on the college dodgeball season so far, in the first ever “GVSU Podcast”.

Published under the Average Joes’ Podcast umbrella.

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GV Lanthorn: GVSU Dodgeball club defeats Michigan State to win the national title

Published April 17, 2013 at 5:25 PM
By ADAM KNORR

The Grand Valley State University club dodgeball team was founded in 2005. The program became a dynasty almost immediately.  Continue reading “GV Lanthorn: GVSU Dodgeball club defeats Michigan State to win the national title”

GVSU at SVSU – Preview

Saginaw Valley State Dodgeball’s Spencer Jardine:

Is this the year? A question the Cardinals have asked themselves many times in past years, but never has a Saginaw team had the opportunity that they will have on March 17th. With a win they will secure themselves a second place finish in the NCDA after already securing the #1 overall seed in Michigan with huge wins at the Michigan Dodgeball Cup. With an 11-2 record this year the Cardinals are looking to even the season series up with the 10-2 Lakers, who handed the Cardinals their only loss’s of the season. The first match up taking place in Bowling Green where the Lakers shellacked the Cardinals 5-0 then defeated Saginaw 2-1 in Grand Rapids a month later during the annual Battle Of the Valleys match up.

After months of not seeing each other the Cardinals and Lakers clashed again at East Lansing in February for the Michigan Dodgeball Cup. SVSU was coming in with a notorious reputation for collapsing at the MDC, with just a handful of wins earned in the past few years. This year matched up with GVSU in the first round the Cardinals seemed like they where headed towards another disappointing MDC after dropping the first point and almost giving up another one at half. After regrouping at half time SVSU battled back to grab a point from GVSU. The Lakers would not go down easy as they roared back with a strong showing almost stealing a point with seconds left as SVSU’s Josh Brettrager held off 6 Lakers to send the game into overtime. In the OT the Lakers again jumped out to an early lead but timely kills and clutch catching by Jason Stein and Spencer Jardine brought the Cardinals to victory. SVSU would go on to defeat CMU 2-1 and MSU 3-2 to lift the Michigan Dodgeball Cup for the first time in program history.

With this match in Saginaw’s Cardinal Gym the Lakers won’t be in unfamiliar territory with the number of times they have traveled to SVSU, however one can never be prepared for Saginaw’s 16th man in the stands. With out a doubt the most hostile environments in the the NCDA the Lakers players will have to deal with a home crowd on St Patty’s day that is just as hungry for a win over the Lakers as the players, and there isn’t a student at Saginaw that won’t instantly hate anything in a blue jersey that weekend. They key to this game will be how the unseasoned players of GVSU handle the vocal crowd of Saginaw, and if GVSU has improved on their game closing abilities. For Saginaw the plan remains the same, look to continue to dominate in the catching department and pick up key kills in the neutral zone while keeping their catches against numbers low. Fans and players should expect this to be a real barn burner with a single point as the likely deciding factor in this match.

Spencer Jardine
SVSU Captain and Nationals 2012 Coordinator

Grand Valley State Dodgeball’s Mark Trippiedi:

 

The Grand Valley State University Lakers will travel to Saginaw Valley on St. Patrick’s Day to add another chapter to the fiercest rivalry in the NCDA. This game has a lot riding on the line, as the winner will take over the #2 ranking in the nation, as well as the top spot in the MI region. The Lakers (10-1-1) are coming off a very frustrating showing at the Michigan Dodgeball Cup where for the first time in program history they lost multiple games at the MDC. The toughest of those losses being a 2-1 OT loss to SVSU in a back and forth game. The Cardinals came rip roaring out of the gate to take the 1st point then held off the Lakers surge before half, taking that 1-0 lead to half. The Lakers fought back after halftime winning the 1st point in the half and controlling the game for about 20 min of the 2nd half. One Cardinal player was able to hold out for about 5 min alone and force overtime. GVSU took a small lead in overtime to see the game slip away as SVSU came up with very timely kills and catches.

Win or lose this match up at SVSU will be important for the less experienced Lakers as they need to know what it is like playing at SVSU before the National tournament in April. SVSU has the loudest fans in the NCDA and those fans will be peppering the Lakers all game long.

The Lakers will look to get back on track with the veterans on the roster playing a big part in what they like to do. GVSU was not happy with some of the performances they showed at the MDC and come back looking for a small taste of revenge. After they had to watch SVSU hoist the MDC trophy for they first time in their club history.

The keys for the Lakers in this game will be simple they have to do a better job of moving their heads in the neutral zone as to not get pick off by cross throws, and the major issue being when they get SVSU on the ropes they need to finish the job to take home the W.

GVSU comes into this game as a rear underdog, having to rebound off the poor showing at the MDC, to play a very hot SVSU team with their crowd behind them. The most hostile environment in the NCDA really will get up for the game against GVSU as the Lakers will be hated simply because they are wearing blue. The Lakers look to give the SVSU faithful a real reason to hate them as they look to win what will be another close game between GVSU and SVSU.

Mark Trippiedi
GVSU Captain