Club dodgeball sweeps competition in home showdown
St. Clair senior Brett Hadwin throws a ball at an opponent during a dodge ball tournament on March 21 at the Student Activity Center.
Central Michigan University’s club dodgeball team came into Saturday ranked as the No. 2 team in the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association.
With support from their home fans and some key plays, the Chippewas claimed the No. 1 spot after hosting NCDA teams Saturday at the Student Activities Center.
The Chippewas defeated all four of their opponents during their CMU Showdown at the Student Activity Center courts five and six. CMU downed No. 1 Grand Valley State University to claim the top spot in the NCDA.
“We played together as a team,” said St. Clair senior and captain Brett Hadwin. “That’s what gave us those wins. Beating Grand Valley was awesome. I haven’t beaten Grand Valley since Nationals my freshman year. They were on a 41-game win streak. To end that felt amazing.”
Gameplay consisted of two 25-minute halves. If the opponent has nobody left on the court, the team receives a point. The contest ends after the 50 minutes are complete. The teams are co-ed.
The seven-hour tournament commenced with a meeting with No. 4 Michigan State University. The Chippewas prevailed with a 3-0 victory over the Spartans.
The performance was followed with a close victory over No. 3 James Madison University. Tied 1-1 with less than a minute to go, CMU’s Zach Bachner caught a ball while JMU only had one player left to give the Chippewas the win over the Dukes.
Hadwin said he was ecstatic about the play.
“It’s good that (Bachner) got it and just the feeling of nobody can question us,” Hadwin said. “That was the best feeling.”
CMU’s third matchup was against the top-ranked Lakers. CMU would go on to win 2-0, but it could have been closer if not for a key play.
Rochester Hills senior Kevin Greig outlasted GVSU attackers to preserve a 1-0 lead before halftime. If Greig would have been hit, it would have tied the game at 1.
“It was pretty cool being the last guy in there,” Greig said. “Things would have been way different in the second half if they would have gotten that point in the first half.”
CMU’s final game was against No. 10 Saginaw Valley State University. The Chippewas defeated the Cardinals 4-1 to secure the sweep.
The home crowd turned out to be a huge factor for the Chippewas. Spectators watched from the track area above, rooting for their home team.
“They fuel us and that’s awesome,” Hadwin said. “We’ve had fans come out and travel, but to do it at home is awesome. When we fill up that track that just feels great. It gives us more of a morale as a team in that we have people up there that we want to play better for.”
Okemos senior Jake Leski agreed. He says it allowed CMU to play to the best of their ability.
“We were pretty confident that if we had our own crowd we could beat anybody,” Leski said. “We played out of our minds and as our last tournament I knew we could do it.”
With the excitements also came frustrations. CMU struggled at times which led to players punching the padded wall. Hadwin and co-captain Wes Peters attempted to keep the players tempers under control.
“What’s really fun is that I get to be the hype man and Wes tries to calm them down. We play both ends of the spectrum. It helps us out a lot.”
This was the final day of matches for the Chippewas, who will now turn their attention to the NCDA Nationals from April 10-12 at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky.
“I think we are going to go into nationals on a high,” Hadwin said. “The only thing I’m worried about is if we come in on too much of a high. We’re going to have to work hard to make sure that we don’t come in on too much of a high and let them go out and take it from us.”
Leski said the goal for the Chippewas is simple.
“National Championship,” Leski said. “We still have to beat some good teams. We did a great job (Saturday) but we've got a long way ahead of us.”
Greig said Saturday’s performance sent a clear message to the other teams in the NCDA.
“We knew we had the talent to beat all these teams,” Greig said. “It was just about execution and sticking to our game plan that led us to win.
“Clearly we showed that we can beat any team in the nation. Hopefully we will end up doing the same thing at Western Kentucky.”
