After starting the season 7-1, including beating rivals SVSU and CMU, the Spartans look to accomplish a feat they’ve never done- beat Grand Valley. With the match being on December 2nd in the Laker Fieldhouse Arena, the atmosphere should be great. The Lakers are coming off a 2-1 loss to rival SVSU, but are 3-1 on the season. Michigan State meanwhile is on a seven game winning streak after dropping their first match to Kentucky. However, the Spartans have never defeated the Lakers, so GVSU is the clear favorite in this one. For MSU to pull off the upset they’ll have to play as a team, and have to play to everyone’s abilities. State will also need two players, Chris Kramer and Andrew Koczara, who are playing in their last game to play great.

The Lakers are led by Mark Trippiedi, who has a 70+ mph throw, who along with Dylan Fettig make one of the best one-two punches in all of dodgeball. While this current team isn’t as strong as the 2008-2009 team that didn’t drop a point all season, they are still clearly a top five time in the NCDA. It will undoubtedly be Michigan State’s toughest match of the semester, so this could be a barometer of sorts to see if MSU is a MDC favorite or still the underdog. While the two teams get along fairly well off the court, expect to see some fireworks on the court, as this is a fierce rivalry.

Last season MSU lost both matches they played against GVSU, the first was a 7-1 loss at GVSU in which the Spartans played with a depleted roster, and the second was a 5-0 match that was closer than the score indicated.

There will also be a junior varsity match after the game, which will give some valuable experience to some of the younger members of the club.