The Hillsdale College Roundnet Club held its first invitational tournament with Michigan State University and Bowling Green State University last weekend.
The tournament included 32 players divided into 8-team advanced and expert divisions, according to junior and club vice-president Cameron Frye. Cash prizes were awarded to the top three teams in the expert division. The event drew players from Cincinnati as well as Michigan State and Bowling Green, according to sophomore and practice captain Nathan Furness.
While this is not the first collegiate tournament the Roundnet Club has participated in, it is the first that Hillsdale has hosted.
“I was a little scared of hosting and having these clubs come to Hillsdale, but I thought it went well,” Furness said.
Frye said that the event was an opportunity to continue ties with other collegiate roundnet teams.
“We participated with both MSU and Bowling Green at tournaments before this fall, and last spring, we were at Bowling Green for tournaments,” Frye said. “So it’s nice to actually be able to get them over here to Hillsdale and just keep forming that relationship with them.”
Though the Spikeball community is still small, it is very tight-knit and passionate, according to junior and club president Joe Duncan.
“I think the biggest accomplishment that this tournament shows is that we were able to make connections with other colleges and invite them to come to Hillsdale for a tournament,” Duncan said. “This is our third year of the club and just making those connections at other tournaments and then bringing people to Hillsdale — it’s really cool for other students to see that Spikeball is a sport.”
Frye and a player from Michigan State took first place in the tournament after Frye stepped in for an injured MSU player. Duncan and the vice president of the Bowling Green club placed third.
Frye and Duncan said that the Hillsdale Roundnet Club will try to host more collegiate tournaments in the future.
“We’re hoping to make this a yearly occurrence in the fall and we’d like to host again in the spring, with the goal that we could get on the collegiate tour series and actually host for a DII or DI tournament, officially sponsored by Spikeball,” Frye said.
The Hillsdale College Roundnet Club held its first invitational tournament with Michigan State University and Bowling Green State University last weekend.
The tournament included 32 players divided into 8-team advanced and expert divisions, according to junior and club vice-president Cameron Frye. Cash prizes were awarded to the top three teams in the expert division. The event drew players from Cincinnati as well as Michigan State and Bowling Green, according to sophomore and practice captain Nathan Furness.
While this is not the first collegiate tournament the Roundnet Club has participated in, it is the first that Hillsdale has hosted.
“I thought it was a pretty good success,” Furness said. “I was a little scared of hosting and having these clubs come to Hillsdale, but I thought it went well. I mean people just like Spikeball — it’s a fun game, and they’re here for Spikeball, so it doesn’t really matter.”
Frye said that the event was an opportunity to continue ties with other collegiate roundnet teams.
“We participated with both MSU and Bowling Green at tournaments before this fall, and last spring, we were at Bowling Green for tournaments,” Frye said. “So it’s nice to actually be able to get them over here to Hillsdale and just keep forming that relationship with them.”
Roundnet — more popularly known by the brand name Spikeball — is a small, but growing, sport across the country. Though the Spikeball community is still small, it is very tight-knit and passionate, according to junior and club president Joe Duncan.
“I think the biggest accomplishment that this tournament shows is that we were able to make connections with other colleges, specifically Michigan State and Bowling Green, and invite them to come to Hillsdale, and we hosted a tournament,” Duncan said. “This is our third year of the club and just making those connections at other tournaments and then bringing people to Hillsdale — it’s really cool for other students to see that Spikeball is a sport.”
Frye and a player from Michigan State took first place in the tournament after Frye stepped in for an injured MSU player. The second-place team included a pro player from Denmark with competition experience in the European Union, while Duncan and the vice president of the Bowling Green club placed third.
Frye and Duncan said that the Hillsdale Roundnet Club will try to host more collegiate tournaments in the future.
“We’re hoping to make this a yearly occurrence in the fall and we’d like to host again in the spring, with the goal that we could get on the collegiate tour series and actually host for a DII or DI tournament, officially sponsored by Spikeball,” Frye said. “So that’s the goal in the future, is to get to a spot where we’re actually hosting for college roundnet events, rather than just intra-collegiate events.”
The Hillsdale Roundnet Club has grown significantly in the last year, according to Frye and Duncan.
“We went from four people playing to 12 people playing competitively in just the course of a year,” Frye said. “And going from just attending tournaments to being able to host in the year? I think it’s an important step forward for the club and that it sets a good precedent for the future.”