VCU Dodgeball Midseason Report

The Dodgeball Club at VCU has already made outstanding strides this year compared to years past. At the moment, the team stands at 8 varsity wins and 6 losses on the year over the course of 5 tournaments. Both the wins and total tournaments are a semester record for the VCU team, even excluding the last scheduled tournament for the semester at the University of North Georgia on November 19th. Needless to say, this is the best the program has ever been, and there are signs that the program is continuing the trend upwards.

From the tournaments at the University of Akron, the University of Maryland, Towson University, and James Madison University, the team has traveled a total of 1,736 miles. Following the University of North Georgia tournament, that number will grow to 2,765 miles. The most VCU has traveled in one full season was 2,329 miles during the 2015-2016 campaign, so the team is currently on pace to blow past that amount in just one full semester. On top of that, the team successfully hosted its first tournament ever on October 1st, providing a very big indicator to how much the program has grown.

As mentioned before, the team's record currently stands at 8-6 in varsity matches for the year. This is not only a record number of wins for the semester, but also a record number of wins for an entire season. This is a credit to many of the players that have stepped up this season including captains Torao Ota, Wayne Shortt, Sam Lammie, and Matt Bosco. Their experience and leadership on the court has been very important for the team's success this season, and will continue to be important going into the second half of the year. There has also been plenty of other players that have shown improvement from one season, and have been very important pieces thus far. RJ Morgan and Tre Edmonds, two sophomores on the team, were instrumental in the team's victory over #5 Kent State at the Akron Pink-Out tournament, as well as in various other games throughout the year. The catching prowess of the two players has been underestimated over the course of the season, and has been an important part of their gameplans this season.

There have also been plenty of newcomers that have stepped up this season including Dane Aggen, Kelvonte Nesmith, Eli Vidano, and Johnny Dell'Angelo. These players, and many other rookies, have shown great development in only a short amount of time. It will be exciting to see how they develop even further in the future, and if they can continue their progress upward.

Overall, this has been one of the most successful seasons for the Dodgeball Club at VCU both on and off the court. The team has awesome sponsors including Carytown Burgers & Fries and Buffalo Wild Wings, the organization for the first time ever is recognized as an official sports club by VCU's rec sports department, and the team has jumped out to its best record in program history. With one tournament left, the team will be looking to close out with another winning record, and hopefully, some more great memories for the year.