This year at Women’s Nationals, the team fought and played hard all day. Our veterans and rookies were each able to showcase their skills and dodgeball knowledge that they’ve developed over the season. The team did a lot better than expected by everyone in the league, so that pushed the women to play even harder to show how strong of a team they were. Although there were some difficult points in the tournament where communication and teamwork were lacking, we were able to improve beyond that and win points from teams that was not expected. There were also multiple times in the tournament where we almost earned and won points we shouldn’t have, but they just didn’t quite turn out in our favor. Even though there were difficult teams at this tournament, our squad was still able to find fun in every single match, especially when starting off Women’s Nationals by showcasing their talents in the Rookie and All-Star matches. Also, finishing this year in the final four once again was incredible, so next year’s results will be great to see!
Photo Credit: Kate Douglas
Game One: UWP vs. Mixed Two
This match was an incredible game to start Women’s Nationals. It allowed the women on each team to have some fun, and each player was able to get opportunities to throw and block for each other. Communication was great towards the end of the match, and confidence within every player was at an all-time high. This game ended with a score of 5-1, with UWP taking the victory!
Game Two: UWP vs. Akron
This match was a huge challenge for Platteville, and required the women to use much more communication, teamwork, and strategy compared to the previous match. Despite scoring no points against Akron, the UWP women still fought hard to win some points and at least prevent Akron from scoring several more. However, this match was only the beginning of the women’s hard fight, and they didn’t give up. This game ended with a score of 0-9, with Akron taking the victory.
Photo Credit: Kate Douglas
Game Three: UWP vs. NKU
This match was once again challenging for the team. Everyone fought hard during this game, but communication and teamwork was at an all-time low, and this proved to be a huge weakness for UWP’s chances of success in this game. This game was a reminder to remember the basics of dodgeball, and that UWP works best as a team. This game ended with a score of 0-3, with NKU taking the victory, but this wouldn’t be the last time during this tournament that these teams face each other.
Game Four: UWP vs. MSU
This was another extremely difficult match for UWP, and even after losing the matches against NKU and Akron, the women still fought hard against the Spartans. There were a few points that UWP might have been able to get the point, but without their best communication and teamwork, they fell short. Even with being tired and unable to secure any points during this match, the women still fought extremely hard to stop MSU from scoring more points on them than Akron did! This game ended with a score of 0-9 with MSU taking the victory, but this didn’t stop UWP’s fight.
Photo Credit: Kate Douglas
Game Five: UWP vs. NKU
Facing NKU for the second time during Women’s Nationals led the UWP women to fight even harder. Looking back at what they did wrong during the previous four games of the tournament also helped guide the women on how they could do better. This game was extremely intense and was closer than any game UWP had played so far, and their will to win was stronger than ever. This game turned into overtime with the score at 3-3. The stakes were extremely high at this point, and it turned into a 1v1, with UWP finally taking the victory. Each player fought extremely hard at that point and the final score of this game was 4-3.
Game Six: UWP vs. MSU
The second time against MSU was no easier than the first, and with every UWP player tired, and injuries starting to develop, this fight was hard to make sure to end Women’s Nationals on a high note. Every player on UWP fought her hardest to finish up this tournament, and we are all so extremely proud of how we did, and next year will be awesome to see how we all improve. This game against MSU finished with a score of 0-9, with MSU taking the win and moving into the final matchup against Akron, where MSU ultimately won the title.
Photo Credit: Kate Douglas
Final Thoughts of Players
Jamie Damm, Rookie
Q: How do you feel about your first Women’s Nationals?
A: I loved it! The women in NCDA are super kind, and create a very welcoming environment. As a rookie, even something as simple as the other team smiling back at you while you are on the line, or hearing people cheer each other on during the livestream makes it so much less intimidating! Shoutout to Ian, Alex, Dylan and Eric from UWP for coming along to run our stream, shag balls, and help keep a positive vibe with our team, they helped make the games way less stressful.
Q: How do you feel about your performance at Women’s Nationals?
A: I’m happy with my performance, I wish I didn’t end up getting injured, that really put a strain on what all I was able to do, but I had some good throws throughout the first few games and I’m really grateful to have had supportive people on my team who kept the energy up, and gave recognition throughout the tournament.
Reagan Bucholtz, Veteran
Q: How does this Women’s Nationals compare to past Women’s Nationals?
A: Both nationals were a ton of fun! I always love the atmosphere of women’s nationals because of how friendly everyone is and how there is usually good competition and sportsmanship. One difference between the years was our numbers. Last year we had a sub, but two of our girls were quite new and only played at nationals and had only been to a few practices. This year we had only six, but all of us were quite experienced from the year/years in dodgeball. Another difference was last year there were only 4 official teams, so it was awesome to have 6 this year. It also made the accomplishment of getting to the final 4 a bit more exciting for us!
Q: How do you feel about your performance at Women’s Nationals?
A: I feel like I played alright. I was able to get 5 catches and a good number of outs. I did also miss a lot of catches unfortunately. Overall, I’m proud of how I played and communicated with my team on the court.