On October 10th, the central region finally welcomed their first women’s tournament in the Heartland Havoc, and University of Iowa had the honor of hosting. The central region teams in attendance were Iowa, UWP, and UWEC; Illinois unfortunately had to pull out day of due to transportation issues, but they wished those still going good luck. The women of the central region played hard at this tournament, making sure to not let this amazing opportunity go to waste. Let’s take a look at how the teams did!
Iowa (0-3)
It is incredibly special and important to the central region that Iowa, the youngest team in the region, was able to host the first central region’s women’s tournament. And these women played very well despite their limited experience, and they didn’t let the point gap prevent them from having fun and playing hard. It was clear how much their coach, Andrew Heim, has been working with them on strategy and confidence on the court, because each player took charge when they needed to, and they went for catches at every opportunity. Their court awareness has gotten better since their last appearance, and it’s something that will for sure improve as they play more matches together. With a month until their next appearance at Platteville’s fall home tournament, we hope to see their players continue to grow and improve as individuals and as a team. They have some great teams to look up to and learn from, and it will be amazing if nationals could be dominated by central region teams this year!
UWP (4-0)
UWP was the only team to play four games at this tournament, and they now lead the region with an undefeated record. This is a huge accomplishment for the team this early into the season, but it’s just the beginning for this experienced team. They played this whole tournament hard and fast, applying intense pressure right off the rush, and obtaining all the balls a few times over the course of the day. The new opening rush rule seems to be a good change made for this season, and it gives each time a much better chance staying alive longer. Their experience over the other teams lends them the upper hand in most situations as they know each others’ strengths and weaknesses after playing both women’s and open dodgeball as a team. There were a fair amount of head shots from the team, which is unusual, but it suggested they took their opponents seriously and would take any chance to get the out on them. This great start to the season will definitely carry across the league, and the other regions should keep their guard up when it comes to UWP.
UWEC (1-2)
Eau Claire being able to form a team this season has given the other central region teams another great opponent as they have a lot of experience in playing as a team in the open league, and it translates well into women’s league. They tend to rely on their veterans when it comes to powerful attacks, but their rookies do well by sneaking in with tricky resets and support. It was great to see veterans Cleo and Kaitlynn work together and lead their team through their first win of the season. Eau Claire plays the long game when it comes to dodgeball, and they prefer to apply a silent type of pressure rather than UWP’s strategy of attention-grabbing pump faking. They stand strong with their balls, waiting for an opening or the reset rather running up and throwing as a unit. It’s a style more similar to UIUC’s strategy, and we’ve all seen how well it can work when done correctly. It was great to see how the confidence and court knowledge grow within this team, and the central region looks forward to their continued improvement.