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.
CSU (1-3)– Even though CSU was stricken with injury when the semester started, the addition of Kathryn Mays allowed the Vikings were to get a win over Kent and take two points off Akron. The Vikings used their phenomenal catching ability to swing momentum in their favor during crucial moments of their matches. Most teams they go against just purely have the people and experience over them. Given this team is still very young, they have a lot to go until their able to make a big push in the rankings.
Miami (2-1)– Miami had a good showing this weekend going 2-1 over WMU and Kent but falling to SVSU in a close game. Their game against the Broncos went into overtime as they won the last point to force an overtime. Miami did what they do best and capitalized on the bad throws the other teams made and were able to catch anything in their path. Miami has great coordination as a team and given some time they will be a team to be reckoned with.
WMU (1-2)– Western Michigan did not have nearly as good of a showcase as they did at their home tournament in December, but they are still improving and that was evident in their match against Miami. This was the Bronco’s first ever overtime in program history and they were so close in making it their first win over Miami. Western struggled to not throw catches but their leadership and communication as a team is improving. A quote from captain Ryan Allor on this tournament, “tourne was fun, needed more free bird though”.
SVSU (3-0)– Arguably their best showcase in recent history, SVSU outscored all their opponents by 11 over three games. Led by their tight knit group of captains, the Cardinals showed us they have what it takes to win close games, but also what it takes to be able to push on the gas pedal against weaker teams. Saginaw Valley hopes to continue this trend going into nationals.
Kent (0-3)– Kent State University suffered the same fate as CSU in regard of having a few injuries that slowed down their progress. Kent has been led by Vanessa Hudson and without her Kent would not have been the same. Even though they are a founding college, they are in a rebuild phase, with the rookie class of this and next year being very important to their success.
Akron (2-1)-Akron had a commanding win over Western and a less commanding one over Cleveland State as CSU was able to get two points on them. Akron is known for their arm talent but they struggle to do a lot as a cohesive unit, this was evident in their match against Ohio State as they were simply outplayed by a better team once again. If Akron can have more consistent communication/ leadership play, they will win more games.
OSU (3-0)-Going into this tournament, for OSU it was expected to go 3-0 and anything less would have been a bad tournament. They play with such aggression that can slowly dismantle the other team. Each one of their players know what to do and there is not a lot of wasted balls or dropped catches from this team. The most looked forward too match was Akron v OSU, and the Buckeyes showed they are the better team by a margin.