Author: Jordyn Vanevenhoven

If I were to describe the 2021-2022 season in one word, it would be “growth”.

We were not in the best spot coming out of the 2020-2021 season. There were hardly any new rookies that joined from the season prior, and it was uncertain how the COVID policies would change or if they would even change at all. With that being said, we were able to recover and recruit one of the biggest rookie classes yet. This new growth also allowed us to take full squads with subs to away tournaments, which was difficult to do in seasons prior. This growth will even propel us forward through the next few seasons and promote new leadership within the club.

With that being said, having such a large rookie group also meant that we did not have the best arms in the start of the season, which our record reflected since we lost a majority of the Fall games. However, we managed to implement more throwing drills, develop a strategy that works, pull together, and show up as a team that could compete against the some of the best at nationals. And although we lost 3-1 against Cincinnati in the first round, other teams noticed how well we played for our ranking, complementing us for such a close game.

UWP Dodgeball plans to carry the momentum and growth from this season to the 2022-2023 season with our newly elected board. Please see below for the election results and some responses from the board. Also, check out which players received an award for their outstanding performance this season.

Elections

Captain: Caleb Newell

Q: What are the most important changes you think we as a team should implement next year?

A: I will advocate for a more serious environment. While this is all in good fun, we need to take more time perfecting skills such as: blocking, catching, court awareness, etc. I plan to have these worked on via drills. This will limit the number of games we will play each practice but increase the quality of them. 

Co-Captain: Tomas Zander

Q: As Co-Captain, what changes will you advocate for in practice to put our team in a better position for next year’s national’s tournament?

A: I am super excited for next season’s dodgeball team because we have a lot of guys returning. With a veteran squad, we can better create strategies at practices to prepare us for tournaments. I am still hoping we get another big recruiting class, that way we build competition within the team. It would also be nice to have 12v12 during practices to better simulate games. We have goals to be a final four team next season. If we can commit to doing drills and taking full squads to every away tournament, we will be top four team for sure. Go NEERS!!

President: Austin Kurey

Q: As the newly elected President, what trajectory do you plan on taking the club next year?

A: I think the best thing that I can work on is to continue to improve our reach as a club. The more students that know of our club, the more students we can get to join. Not only would it be great to increase our range with students, but also it would be great to help out with dodgeball events that occur on campus that aren’t related to the club.

Vice President: Nicholas Stocks

Q: Going from a rookie this year to the newly elected Vice President of the club, what are some specific things you want to focus on to attract more newcomers to the club come next Fall?

A: To bring more students into the club we have to advertise ourselves more. In the Fall I know we plan to have tables at events where students can see what clubs UW-Platteville has to offer, and that’s a great way to reach all students, whether they are freshmen or seniors. Being the person in charge of fundraising I am looking into the idea of having a fundraiser on campus for students, something similar to a dunk tank, but instead, throwing a dodgeball at a professor. I think students will enjoy this because when else can you throw something a professor.

Treasurer: Jalen Sims

Secretary: Zak Lathrop

Content Writer: Jordyn Vanevenhoven

Awards

Baller of the Year: Jacob Sebranek

I would like to thank the club for voting for me to be “Baller of the Year.” It helps validate all the hours I put in with Coach Erik on Mondays and Wednesdays. It also feels good to know that the drills we do on the non-practice days really do make a difference even if we’d like to have more people show up to them. Lastly, I’d like to say “Thank you” to everyone on the club for being such good friends and teammates. Have a great summer and dream of me headshoting all of you at the fall tournament.

Rookie of the Year: Jalen Sims

I would like to start off by thanking everyone for this award and I’m proud of everyone who came out to play this year. I’ve only seen our team improve from our first tournament to nationals, but I look forward to the next 3 years and can’t wait to see where we end up.

Most Improved Player: Zak Lathrop

I would like to say that I am honored to have earned this award and I am proud that my hard work for myself and the club is paying off. 

Team Impact Award: Noah Larscheid

Thank you to all of my teammates for making Dodgeball Club as fun as it is. It’s not every day you get to throw a dodgeball as hard as you can at someone else. Thank you for the last four years and I hope to make my last semester at UWP a good one next fall in the dodgeball club. Go ‘Neers!

Practice MVP: Eli Huntley

UWP Dodgeball is proud to congratulate two veteran players, Kyle Reinke and Jake Sebranek on their commencement. Kyle Reinke is graduating with a Civil Engineering B.S. and already has a job lined up with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation in the Waukesha area. Jacob Sebranek is graduating with a B.S. in Civil Engineering, a Mathematics Minor, as well as a History Minor, and will be starting his job at the City of Eau Claire this Summer.

Both Kyle and Jake have been with the club for many years, and both have certainly left their mark through holding board positions, leading practices, and teaching the rookies how to play competitively. They each have their own competitive strengths as well. Jacob in particular has grown significantly in just this past year in both his catching and throwing abilities, which won him this year’s Baller of the Year Award. Kyle, even with his elbow injury, has gone to almost every tournament this year and has made some amazing catches when we needed them the most.

However, the things that we appreciate about Kyle and Jake are not limited to just what happens on the court. Whether it be a weeknight bowling trip or a weekend darty, Kyle and Jake are always there. Both of these guys have great capacities for empathy and truly care about each of the club’s members, especially the rookies. Lastly, I know that this will not be the last time that I see Kyle and Jake as they are eager to come back to home tournaments to play on the alumni team and see the progress that the club they love has made.

Congratulations Kyle Reinke and Jake Sebranek on your achievements! We look forward to seeing all the structures and roads that you will create throughout your careers.

The 2022 NCDA Nationals tournament was held in Kalamazoo, MI at Western Michigan University after a 2-year hiatus of national competitions; needless to say, every team was jacked up to be under one roof again. This was a special year for UWP as a large portion of our team consisted of rookies that have never been to nationals before. In practice leading up to the big day, veterans would hype it up as a great opportunity to be a part of something bigger and to truly bond as a team. This was exactly the case because we never had as many players jumping, yelling and cheering at one time before.

Going into the tournament, Platteville sat at seed 16 out of 18 other teams, so the odds were not exactly in our favor from the start. The first day served as a placement day where all points gained were doubled and Platteville was scheduled to play Cleaveland State University, Ohio State University, and Saginaw Valley University, which were some of the better teams out of the bunch. UWP fought hard in each match and ended up taking SVSU to overtime and even winning against CSU, thus moving up to the 13th spot.

For the first game of the single elimination tournament, we were matched up against the University of Cincinnati Bearcats, whom we lost to two weeks prior. Everyone on the team knew that these guys were going to be tough competition, but that did not hinder anybody’s spirits. Everyone, even those on the sidelines, were shouting out the clock and cheering. UWP managed to score the first point against UC after a strong start, with which they responded by scoring two consecutive points. After halftime, the fourth point was hardly fought ending in a 1v1 situation with UWP President JT Warren against UC Brannon McGinn. It was so close, but UC ended up getting the point from a catch. The clock stalled out during the fifth point resulting in a final score of 3-1 UC.

Even though we ended up losing a hard battle, everyone was glad that we went down fighting. When the captains first found out who they were playing, UC was upset that they had to play us instead of an easier team. In fact, other teams were even joking after the game that they blew their arms out when playing us. Although it didn’t go the way that some veterans were hoping it would, the future looks bright for our team. Once clumsy rookies have become well-seasoned in the game, many even stepping up and starting each point. One thing is for certain next year, and that is that we will compete hard, together, and for the win.

Sorry for the delay folks. The UWP Dodgeball content writer is about as efficient as the current supply chain. We have a repeat offender this month as he was also the October BOTM. Caleb Newell, Co-Captain and dodgeball extraordinaire, is greatly deserving of the March BOTM Award due to his excellent leadership skills during games and his overall enthusiasm towards the team. For anyone that saw national’s this past weekend, I’m sure we all can agree that Caleb is a perfect candidate to win 2 BOTM Awards in the same year.

1. Upon completing your first national’s dodgeball competition, is this what you expected it to look like?

Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Many of our teammates had kept talking it up and it didn’t disappoint. It was a great atmosphere to be around people who love the game. I really enjoyed being able to make friends and talk with those that I have already had the pleasure of playing against. I’m excited for next year already.

2. Do you have any comments from the loss against Cincinnati?

Man, that was a tough loss for us. We had ample opportunity to win that game and mental errors killed us. However, I am extremely proud of us. I want to give a shout out to the rookies and back half of the starting 12. We asked you to come into this tournament to play roles for us and you did just that, it was amazing watching you all work as a unit. I think we made noise around the league and especially in the heads of Cincinnati. I know they were hurt after that tough game, and if we couldn’t win I’m glad we made them work for it.

3. You were a part of the bidding process for next year’s NCDA national’s tournament. What are your thoughts on UWP potentially hosting a national’s tournament?

I seriously think UWP is perfect for nationals. Almost every single year we have put in a bid for Nationals, but we’ve come up short. Everyone’s complaint is that its far and I think that is a poor excuse. The other clubs would have all year to raise travel money for nationals. Also, our club literally travels anywhere and everywhere for games, so that just reiterates the fact that distance shouldn’t be a factor. One of the big reasons we should be looked at is the fact that all of our courts have curtains on all sides, this would eliminate wall ball and keep all of the balls on the court, which was an issue at the most recent nationals.

4. How has your outlook on the sport changed since joining the UWP Dodgeball Club this past Fall?

Whenever I first joined, I thought it would be a good way to stay active but play a goofy childhood game. I shortly realized that it was competitive and that I was hooked. I believe I can play with the best of the best, every time when get on the court I plan to prove that. I think if Platteville got more attention, I would be considered one of the better players in the league.

5. Looking ahead, what needs to change in order to compete with other top tier teams?

We need our team to take things a bit more seriously. By this I mean we need to focus more on drills to improve individual facets before we just play games. Yes, you can get reps in games, but if you get out early there is no way to have players improve on certain skills i.e: blocking, catching, countering. To add to that we need a change of philosophy. For us to improve we need coaches to hear the players out and vice versa, although I believe it’s gotten better over the year, there was a significant tension that could be felt at practices. If we are all on the same page, we will perform better.

6. Is there anything else you would like to share?

In the wise words the ‘Man of Many Words’, Mr. Jacob Sebranek, Roll ‘Neers.

As national’s approaches, UWP Dodgeball wants to take a moment to recognize some key athletes this year and how they contributed to the team. Although every player in the team makes an impact, there are a few players that stand out each tournament, and as the young kids say, “come in clutch” when the going gets tough. Below you will find bios on the 5 most valuable players this year, as well as two rookies who stood out from the rest.

Jacob Sebranek #22

There is no surprise that five-year veteran Jacob Sebranek is on the top five list this year for UWP. Jake is one of the best when it comes to catching, blocking, and game awareness. This is especially valuable to the team because we need more players that are as well-rounded as Jake is. Additionally, Jake has been a strong leader in training the newer players during workout sessions to complement the things we work on during practice. We hope to see more of Jake’s phenomenal gameplay at nationals in the coming weeks.

JT Warren #34

Not only is JT the President of the club, but he is also hands-down the best at catching among all UWP Dodgeball members. In fact, he is the kind of guy that will leap for a catch that others wouldn’t even bother going for, even if it means he might get thrown out after. A sports fan at heart, JT is very competitive and is the fire that drives us to not hold back at each game, and it will be same at nationals. While we may not be going into the tournament at a high ranking, JT will surely keep spirits high even when the going gets tough.

Austin Kurey #23

Ausstin has one of the most unique and powerful throws on the team due to his range and accuracy. His sidearm throw is practically everything that Coach Erik Zander tells new players to avoid, yet Austin consistently will get outs from a distance with his sidearm. Both his throw and experience will be a huge asset for the team both in nationals and tournaments to come. Light-hearted and comical, Austin is always there to boost morale and remind everyone of the importance of having fun at practice, which at the end of the day is just as important as winning.

Eli Huntley #8

Another player that UWP would like to recognize is none other than Eli Huntley. Eli is a fourth-year veteran of the team who has developed quite the throw since starting his freshman year. An interesting thing about Eli is that he brings a sense of humor and fun to practice while still being competitive. Because of his adept understanding of the game, other players often look to Eli for callouts of when to throw and be aggressive.

Tomas Zander #25

This top five list would not be complete without mentioning Tomas Zander. Tomas is a well-seasoned player from his experience prior during his undergraduate studies, and now that he is back in school for his graduate degree, the club is excited to have another strong leadership figure on the team. Tomas has been incredible in helping the rookies improve their throw, as well as calling out throws and plays during games. Whoever UWP will be facing at nationals’, they will certainly have a difficult time dodging any throw from Tomas.

Jalen Sims #10 (Rookie)

Jalen has been impactful in the past few tournaments, especially for being so new to the sport. His solid arm and blocking skills are the exact reason why he always makes the starting 12. Jalen, like the many other freshman who joined this past Fall, was eager to have fun and meet friends after the first phase of the Pandemic. However, Jalen quickly developed an interest in competing and has shown more improvement than any other rookie on the team. The team is excited to see Jalen’s abilities further develop in the coming semesters.

Caleb Newell #7 (Rookie)

Yet this only being his second semester in the club, Caleb has been serving as Captain since the start of Spring semester, which says a lot about his leadership qualities. Caleb is also one of the best throwers on the team. Through his past experiences in football and baseball, he has developed quite the arm and is not scared to show it off. The club is sad that Caleb will be graduating in the coming Fall semester but hopes to end his time in the club with a strong appearance in Michigan.

Although Caleb may be new to dodgeball, his experiences as a three-sport athlete is a tribute to his knowledge of effectively working as a team, and thus has a technical perspective of what’s to come for UWP Dodgeball this year at nationals.

“Our mindset heading into nationals is to embrace the dark horse. This team is full of high caliber veterans who, when given the opportunity, have the talent to take over games. Throughout the year our team has shown we can compete with the best. However, I don’t think our team is shown respect for our talent level and I welcome other teams to overlook us. Even though are record shows a different story, we know our power and plan to show that on the court come nationals.”

Contrary to prior Baller of the Month Awards, this month’s baller is a veteran dodgeball athlete. After being in the club for five whole years, holding leadership positions for four years, and constantly striving to bring the best out of our team, it is an honor to award Jake Sebranek the February BOTM award. Similar to how Mike Tyson dominated the boxing ring, Jake has consistently performed outstandingly at tournaments and practices alike. Sadly, he will be leaving the club this year upon graduation with a Civil Engineering degree, but everyone in the club hopes Jake the best in his future endeavors.

Although many fear Jake’s deepest and darkest thoughts, check out below for a list of interview questions.

What has your overall journey been through the club?

My freshmen year I was just a regular player. Sophomore year I was the content writer. Junior and Senior year I was club president. This year I am vice-president and head captain of the Dodgeball Club. Overall, my time with the club has been a lot of fun and I like when we do team activities outside of dodgeball too like bowling or frisbee golf.

What do you wish to see the club do differently in the years ahead?

I want to see the club make a Final Four at Nationals and beat a top school like Grand Valley State in the coming years.

Do you plan on coming back for future Alumni matches?

Yes, I plan on coming back for alumni matches. I wouldn’t pass up a chance to headshot all my old teammates.

What will life look like for you upon graduation?

Upon graduation, I will be working with the Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation in Eau Claire, WI.

Is there anything else you wish to share?

Go Pioneers!

Coming into a new semester, UWP-Dodgeball is ready to turn the tides from last semester’s losses and come into Nationals with reasonable standing. Everyone seems to be in agreement that we have a lot of talent and potential, but it’s just a matter of coordinating throws during play and sticking to the fundamentals.

UWP is pumped to compete in our upcoming home tournament, Zanderthon Throw-Down #6. The tournament will be held February 19th, just one week before our upcoming away tournament @ Akron. UNL is the only collegiate team to be attending the Zanderthon Throw-Down, but UWP also anticipates a full UWP Alumni squad to play against both UWP and UNL. This will certainly be a big game for the club as we did not fare well against UNL last semester, but it is certain that balls will be flying.

The schedule for the tournament is as follows… First game starts at 10:15 AM with UWP up against UNL. The next two following games are UWP Alumni games, the first of the two being UWP vs Alumni @ 11:30 AM, and the second being UNL vs Alumni @ 12:45 PM. The fourth and last game will once again be UWP vs UNL @ 2:00 PM, after which Zanderthon Throw-Down #6 comes to a conclusion.

This will no doubt be a competitive game, so check out below for what our Captain/Co-Captains have to say about what’s to come.

What does UWP Dodgeball need to overcome in order to defeat UNL this home tournament?

Caleb Newell (Co-Captain) – For the team to be successful we need to do three things. We need to play aggressive, smart, and efficient. In our last couple outings against UNL we have played right into their strengths, if we keep UNL moving and on their heels, we should face little resistance. However, we need to keep in mind to help each other out so that we aren’t dismantled one by one. Notoriously we are slow starters, this is something us captains have recognized and are prepping our team to be ready bright and early.

JT Warren (Co-Captain/President) – I think if we can all get on the same page on the court, we will be fine. If we are all understanding of our rolls and what is needed of us, we will come out on top for this tournament.

Are there any specific players that you think will stand out this tournament?

Jacob Sebranek (Captain/Vice-President) – I’m looking for Jalen Sims to stand out. This freshman has been one of the few people regularly coming to our extra workouts on Mondays & Wednesdays and has really improved because of it. I’m also looking for Caleb Newell and I to stand out as leaders and communicators on the court because of our new leadership roles on the team.

Caleb Newell – There are a large amount worth mentioning, Tomas, Austin, JT, Jake, and Noah, are all experienced veterans that are going to give us an edge. Some rookies to look out for will be Jalen, Alex C, Cody L, these three have shown exceptional improvement over the last semester and I expect them to play well. Lastly would be myself, in the past I have had success against UNL, and I expect to perform just as well come the 19th.

What color Gatorade is Erik being dunked with?

Jacob Sebranek – Pink Gatorade is the only right answer!!!

We’re coming back at you P-Vegas with yet another stellar Baller of the Month. This month is January, and UWP-Dodgeball is excited to nominate another rookie as this month’s star. Some describe this player as a menace on the court, some call him the Rubber Ravager, some even call him Randy. Lest the rumors not given it away yet, the January Baller of the Month is none other than Jalen Sims. Jalen is a 1st year electrical engineer from Racine, WI; however, from spending the last few weeks with him, I am greatly impressed by both his arm and his understanding of the game. He puts in the work every day at practice and is a role model for the other rookies.

See below for Jalen’s hot take on some burning questions that the team has for him.

What are your favorite parts about the club?

My favorite part about the club has to be how it can be both competitive/serious at times but it’s also just a good way to have fun.

If you were to adopt a guinea pig, what would his name be?

Rocky

What else do you like to do besides dominate on the court?

Video games, fishing and swimming.

What is something you really want to do this semester with UWP-Dodgeball?

Go to Nationals.

Cody Larson was voted as Baller of the Month for November and is yet another new recruit that has been given the reward. I did not get a chance to know Cody as I was on coop, but here are some fun facts about him.

What’s your major, where are you from, what do you like to do, what year are you in school/dodgeball?

My major is Engineering Physics, and I am from Manitowoc WI. I enjoy 3D printing and I am a freshman on the dodgeball team.

How has being in dodgeball this semester affected you?

Being in dodgeball this semester has greatly improved myself confidence and helped me make some pretty awesome friends.

What are some things that you can see the team working on as a whole?

Working with a little more court awareness of where your teammates might be.

Where’s your favorite place to eat on campus?

My Favorite place to eat on campus is the Bridgeway commons.

What is your trajectory in life, and are your parents proud of you and your decisions thus far?

My trajectory in life is towards my degree.