After beating the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in round one of the National Tournament, the Spartans lost to rival Saginaw Valley in the second round of the tournament. The first game of the day featured MSU versus WKU, and it was a great battle. The Spartans jumped out to a 2-0 lead going into the half thanks to strong team play, but the Toppers took the first point of the second half to make it 2-1. The Spartans, led by captains Sam Hiller and Andy Malnor, along with Alex Acton and Eric Paul, were able to hold off WKU to win the match.

MSU next played SVSU, and they once again quickly fell to a disadvantage. The Cardinals exploded for 3 points in the first 19 minutes against MSU, but State would not go quietly into the night. In a true team effort they battled back and almost scored a point going into the half, but then they played even better and picked up a two second half points and almost tied the game before the final buzzer sounded on the team’s season. SVSU would go on to beat GVSU and Kentucky to win the National Championship.

Overall Michigan State finished the season with an 11-9 record, and they made it to the National Quarterfinal for the 4th straight season.

Michigan State beat Wisconsin-Platteville and Miami (OH), but was beaten 2-1 by James Madison. The Spartans opened the day with a battle with the Dukes that went down to the wire. After a long point against JMU to open the game, in which junior Zach Bauer held out on his own for multiple minutes, the Spartans took the second point right before the half after strong play by some of their key players. However, JMU began to catch all the Spartans throws, and took a 2-1 lead before holding on in a nail biter final point. MSU next played against Wisconsin-Platteville, where they dropped the first point in three and a half minutes. However, the Spartans would respond, winning 9-1 and having huge games from sophomore Andy Lieblich and junior Jake Billhorn. MSU finished off with a game against undermanned Miami, where after getting out to a 3-0 lead the Spartans began to just have fun with the Redhawks.

Michigan State gained the six seed for the Sunday single-elimination bracket, and will play Western Kentucky at 10:15 am. In the bottom half of the bracket along with Michigan State are rivals Saginaw Valley, Grand Valley, and Central Michigan, which will make for an interesting Sunday bracket.

Alex Acton, Andrew Koczara, Andy Malnor, and Eric Paul were named as the 2012 NCDA All-Stars representing the Michigan State Club Dodgeball Team. Alex Acton is a third year player, and was elected to his second All-Star Game this year. He is known for being a great catcher and a great crosser. Andrew Koczara, who has the hardest arm on the team, has been named to his first All-Star Game. Andy Malnor and Eric Paul both are great all-around players, and both have been named to their second All-Star Game.

The Spartans head out tonight to Saginaw to win their first NCDA National Championship in school history. The All-Star Game is at 10 am, and the Spartans’ first game is at 10:45 against James Madison.

With Nationals only a week away, Michigan State is ready to win a title. With the schedule released, the roster finalized, and the strategy set, the Spartans are prepared to make this their best finish yet. The roster is filled with dodgeball veterans, with only three players making their first National Tournament appearance, and even they have played in multiple tournaments this season. The other seventeen players have plenty of experience, and this will be key if the Spartans go the whole way and play seven games in two days. With so much wear and tear on their arms, for the Spartans to be so deep will be very important if they hope to win the title. Sophomore Mike Van Ermen says “As someone who gets a pretty sore arm after a day on the court, we need to have our throwers who are susceptible to ‘dead arm’ to play smart on the first day. We shouldn’t be trying to break people’s blocks or taking risky shots. Instead, we need to pick our targets without blocks and team throw, possibly without gripping to avoid losing energy. We’re going to need all the arms we have if we want to go far in the tournament.”

Facing James Madison at 10:45 am, Michigan State will have to adapt to the Dukes’ game play. Having never played them before, MSU must impose their own style on JMU and force them to play Spartan Dodgeball. At 3:45 pm Michigan State goes against Wisconsin-Platteville. Having lost both matches of the season (against Western Illinois and Moody Bible) the Spartans must get out to an early lead and squash any hopes of an upset. Finally Michigan State squares off against Miami (OH) at 5:00 pm, and will have to similarly get out fast against them as well. The Saturday pool play for Michigan State is very winnable, and they should come out as a top four seed on Sunday. Van Ermen says “I feel our draw’s pretty favorable. In our teams history, we haven’t had too many problems with the teams we’re matched up with. However, we can’t just walk in assuming we’re going to win. We still need to play our game, and we still need to play smart. If we do that, we’ll walk into Sunday with a pretty favorable road to the Final Four.”

Michigan State enters the 2012 NCDA National Tournament drawing James Madison, Wisconsin-Platteville, and Miami (OH). JMU is going to their first National Tournament, but Wisconsin-Platteville and Miami are old foes for the Spartans.

Not much is known about James Madison, as they are a new team to the NCDA. The Dukes finished the season in sixth place, starting off the season blowing out some of the other East Coast schools, but more recently they’ve been in dogfights, playing schools like Kent State, Ohio State, and Bowling Green.

Wisconsin-Platteville has played Michigan State in the past, but has never beaten them. The Pioneers are winless this season, losing their matches to Western Illinois and Moody Bible. UW-P finished the season in last place, but they’ve proven to be a tough out for the Spartans in the past.

Miami (OH) is coming into the tournament at 3-6, but out of their three wins, two of them were forfeits by Louisville. The other win was a 7-0 win though against Towson. However, their losses have had a score differential of -19, which is the lowest of any team attending Nationals.

For a full schedule, check out the NCDA Records spreadsheet on Google.

Olivia Ghislain, Nicole Halbeisen, Erin Treanore, and Cote Witt are all playing in the first ever Nationals All-Girls game at Saginaw Valley. The four Spartan women will be mixed together with the other schools bringing girls, and play a girls-only match. The other schools bringing girls include Kent State, Depaul, Northwestern State, and James Madison, among others. This match will be played on the Saturday of Nationals, along with the second annual All-Star Game, which the Spartans will also be playing in.

As the Spartans move closer to setting their roster for the 2012 NCDA National Tournament at Saginaw Valley State University, they also move closer to finding out their opponents for day one of the tournament. Day one of the tournament is a three match group play round robin, and MSU is anticipating they’ll avoid the other Michigan superpower teams. Right now, Zigmas Maloni of Depaul has Michigan State playing James Madison, Moody Bible Institute, and Western Kentucky, with all three schools being ranked in the top twelve of the NCDA rankings. The Spartans have played Moody three times in the two year history of the program, with the Spartans coming out on top all three times. Michigan State has not played the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky since Nationals 2010 at Bowling Green State University, and they have never played James Madison.

MSU is also undefeated the last three seasons against out of state opponents. They are hoping to continue this run through Nationals this year. The second day of Nationals features a single elimination tournament, which the Spartans will hope to have a good seed to advance to their third straight Final Four appearance. Junior Will Hack says he’d like to play “James Madison” because of the fact that there is a James Madison College at Michigan State University. He’d also like to play “Depaul, because I’ve never had the chance to play them and I hear it’s a blast.”

The current guest list for Nationals includes the three other semifinalist teams from last year, Big Ten rival Ohio State, and common opponents Bowling Green and Western Illinois, which means the Spartans will have to take down some of the toughest competition in the league if they are to win a title. It also includes teams that MSU has not played, at least not in a while, including Kentucky, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Towson.

The formula for seeding for the second day is currently projected to be based off of 80% of the points you score on day one of Nationals, and 20% of the points you’ve earned during the regular season. Since Michigan State is currently in fifth place in the standings they should be in good shape, but they can’t afford to falter on day one.

The full schedule for Michigan State will be posted as soon as it is released.

The Michigan State Spartans are now moving towards winning their first NCDA Championship in April at Saginaw Valley State University. The Spartans (8-7) have reached the Final Four in the last two seasons, but they are looking for more this season. They had a disappointing finish at the 2012 Michigan Dodgeball Cup this February, in which they went 0-3, but the Spartans were competitive in every game giving them some hope. MSU also has not lost to an out of state school since 2009, giving them an edge over the majority of the competition.

Michigan State began the season at SVSU in which they split two games, a loss against Saginaw Valley and a win against Bowling Green, with the win against Bowling Green being their first win in the Cardinal Gym ever. They followed that up by hosting the 2011 MSU Invite, where they swept Eastern Michigan, Depaul, Kent State, and Ohio State to win the championship. Their next match was a loss to Grand Valley State, then they went to Depaul for the Chicago Dodgeball Open. At the CDO the Spartans were able to go 3-1, beating Nebraska, Western Illinois, and Moody Bible, but losing again to Grand Valley State. The Spartans then hosted their second tournament of the year, the Michigan Dodgeball Cup, where they lost all three matches against Central Michigan, Saginaw Valley, and Grand Valley. The following weekend the Spartans would lose for the fourth time that season to GVSU.

The Spartans will not know who they play in the tournament until the beginning of April, but they are ready. The tournament could go to any team this year, and with a veteran led team the Spartans are just as primed as any to hoist the trophy this season.