Party on Fifth Avenue Recap

By Nate Sexauer, Assistant Captain of Ohio University

In an ambitious move for a first-year NCDA team, Pitt kicked off its legacy with a home tournament, something few league teams can claim to have done. Welcoming them into the fold on a brisk October afternoon were Kent State, Akron, and Ohio University. How did each team do? Let’s take a quick look.

Why not start with the hosts? For a freshly minted team, Pitt made their lofty ambitions known. While they only garnered one point from the affair (coming against Akron), they flashed sparks of great potential.  Led by Katie Milliken, who deserves high praise for organizing both a team and a tournament in time for the start of the season, the team showed off a lot of very strong arms and extremely agile players. Of course, Pitt still suffered from pure lack of experience, something Ohio can relate to. That is something that can be obtained solely through time and travel, however. The raw talent is definitely there, so look for Pitt to make an impression early and often.  Continue reading “Party on Fifth Avenue Recap”

Standings as of 2016-10-03

Towson records team record. Towson adds 2.172 to their rating with their three wins at VCU this weekend. They climb to 46.620 and can claim an all time high rating for the team. They are now 6-0 over their two events this season, with the best record in college dodgeball this season, and can claim the #4 spot in the Gonzalez Standings.

The Lower Septenary Teams. There is a competitive and better half of the league that is worth paying attention to. Pitt enters the League standings with a 36.057 rating and #23 placement, and UMD drops to #18 after losing 0.956 after going 0-3 this weekend. This places the two teams into a very competitive bracket that ranges from #18-24. Only 3.873 separates the lowest and highest ratings here, or some 4 quality wins. As long as these teams aren’t playing a team greater than #9, I’d expect to see these ratings shuffle over the season. Very easy to bust out. Akron has already done so, climbing into #13 from #17 last week.  Continue reading “Standings as of 2016-10-03”

NCDA 6v6 Recruitment Division – Series 1: UWP

The National Collegiate Dodgeball Association, alongside partners from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Dodgeball Club, will be hosting this inaugural event which will be the first of four in this series of 6v6 pinch rubber collegiate dodgeball tournaments this year.

The purpose of the 6v6 division of the NCDA is to act as a recruitment campaign geared at sparking the interest of students at universities closer to our geographically disadvantaged Member Teams in an effort to expand the reach of the NCDA.

Facebook Event
The 6v6 NCDA Rulebook
Continue reading “NCDA 6v6 Recruitment Division – Series 1: UWP”

Final on Clean Blocking Rule

Good people, after many conversations with multiple people and the rest of the Executive Board, we have reached a final interpretation of the Clean Blocking rule.

As it might appear in the Rulebook

1. Blocking – A Target can use a dodgeball to block any direct throw. However, the blocking dodgeball(s) must remain secure after being hit, and the ricochet must not hit the blocking Target’s body.

1.1 Knockout – If a blocking ball becomes dislodged, the Target must regain possession before the dislodged ball becomes dead. Failure results in a Loss of Possession [3.4.3.1] and the Target is ruled out.

1.2 Dirty Block – If the ricochet hits the blocking Target, a catch must be made on the ricochet before the ball becomes dead. Failure will result in the Target being ruled out.

1.2.1 Block Assisted Personal Catch – If the blocking Target catches the ricochet, it counts as a Personal Catch (new phrase for a Direct Catch). A player from the Target’s jail comes back into play. The Thrower is out.
Note: The play must be isolated to the blocking Target. Once the ricochet hits a teammate, it is only eligible for a Team Catch.
1.2.2 Block Assisted Team Catch – If a teammate of the Target catches the ricocheted ball before it becomes dead, it is deemed a Block Assisted Team Catch. A player from the Target’s jail comes back into play. Neither the Target nor the Thrower are out.  Continue reading “Final on Clean Blocking Rule”

Michigan Region First Impressions

The college dodgeball season is now well underway, and each of the Michigan Region teams has stepped on the court at least once.  I have only had the pleasure to attend two games so far this year, but thanks to Facebook Live I have seen my fair share of Michigan Region teams through the first few weeks of the season.  Here are my very brief first impressions on each of the four Michigan schools (listed in the order of their current position in the NCDA Standings):

Continue reading “Michigan Region First Impressions”

First Impressions of the East

As just about everyone knows at this point, Towson hosted the first East Coast region tournament this weekend. While not every staple team from the EC was able to make it, three of mainstays (Towson, UMD & VCU) along with a young squad in Stevenson were able to get together for a day of action. Now that I’m on the outside looking in, I was able to watch and learn a lot more than I could in the past, as I was probably trying to keep myself awake in between matches or find a quick bite to eat. I caught most of the matches, and while I didn’t see everything, I saw enough to get a good impression on each of the four teams. Here are my impressions of the four squads involved in Sunday’s action: Continue reading “First Impressions of the East”

Previewing the Virginia Commonwealth Cup

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) will be hosting their first tournament in program history this Saturday, October 1st.  This is the second East Coast region tournament, following the Towson Throwdown hosted by Towson University on September 25th.  Teams that will be attending include Towson, Maryland, and of course VCU.

What to Expect

More or less, we should expect results similar to the Towson Throwdown. The only team not playing in this tournament that was present last weekend is Stevenson, and given only a one week difference, it is hard to imagine much changing.  That being said, VCU will have a unique opportunity to play on their home court, giving them a slight advantage over the two traveling teams.  Continue reading “Previewing the Virginia Commonwealth Cup”

Pitt slated to become 40th Member Team

pitt-logoThis Saturday, the University of Pittsburgh Dodgeball Club hosts their first tournament and will become the 40th collegiate dodgeball organization to play in the NCDA. Pitt’s Induction Match is the first match of the day and their opponent is the honorable Akron, who joined as the 35th club who joined November 2014. Rounding out the competitors are Ohio and Kent, which will make for a great set of matches for any new team.

I am looking forward to the Pitt/Ohio match because new team matchups are always a highlight for me. I think this will be much more competitive than the current Gonzalez rating suggests, and I will actively compare this upcoming game to future meetings between the two teams.

I’m also looking at Kent/Akron as a good match. These two teams are basically coming from the same area, traveling a similar distance, and playing on a neutral but unfamiliar court. That sets up a great story in this author’s humble opinion.

Continue reading “Pitt slated to become 40th Member Team”

Cornhusker Recap

cornhusker-clash-2016-09-24-allIt was a great day for a tournament for Nebraska, DePaul, and Platteville. The games were competitive and everyone had a great time. The day first started out with Platteville and a few of DePaul’s first years playing against Nebraska’s first years. It was a good experience for all as it got everyone warmed up and ready to go. The order of the games went: Platteville vs. DePaul, Platteville vs. Nebraska, and DePaul vs. Nebraska.

Here is the breakdown of how these games went.  Continue reading “Cornhusker Recap”

Recap: Towson Throwdown

Towson University hosted the first East Coast tournament of the season at Burdick Hall which featured Towson, Maryland, Stevenson, and VCU.  For the very first tournament for every team, there were a lot of positives to take away, but also a lot of things to improve on for each team.  I will be analyzing each team and highlighting some of the key takeaways from the tournament.  Continue reading “Recap: Towson Throwdown”

Standings as of 2016-09-27

For these standings we use the revamped Gonzalez system, but I also included the time honored Champ system for ease of reference. There’s currently a discussion and vote going in the Executive Board for alterations to our NCDA Ranking Algorithm, which has been used for seeding the Nationals bracket for 2016 and 2015 (plus a proto system used for 2014). The accuracy for the Nationals bracket for the two years was 93.75%. The predictive accuracy for the new Gonzalez system is currently 80.16% (196 technical upsets / 988 ranked matches).  Continue reading “Standings as of 2016-09-27”