By Zach Strohecker, Apr. 12, 2022
On Friday, March 25, ASI held the last recreational event before spring break, giving students the chance to unwind and win some Bronco Bucks in a spikeball tournament.
The tournament was held in the commons area in front of the BRIC. Two teams, each comprised of a duo, competed in a best of five series, first to three wins.
Noah Campbell, a kinesiology major and member of the winning team, was the standout performer in the match despite his lack of spikeball experience.
“I’ve only played once, but I’m pretty athletic, so I’ll toss it to that,” Campbell said regarding his performance.
The teams were named, not so colorfully: Scott and Noah, Tanner and Hector. The first two rounds were back and forth, each team rallying a few points at a time. Both rounds were won by Scott and Noah winning by the smallest of margins. Then, team Scott and Noah built up momentum and crushed the third round ending the series in a clean sweep
Spikeball is played similarly to volleyball. Players gather around a small net about three feet in diameter and serve a small ball into it. Each team can make contact three times, bouncing it to each other, before spiking it back into the net for the other team to play. If a team fails to spike the ball into the net, the other team scores a point. The team that reaches 20 points first wins.
Signups were scarce at the start of the event. Only one person signed up online for the tournament, but through word of mouth and ASI employees’ efforts to gather enough walk-ins to get a game going, the tournament was saved.
“We send in the crew with a big board, and when people walk by, we just ask,” said Hallie Kaichi, an ASI employee.
After the money match was settled, teams started to mix and match, and more people joined in for some friendly games.
“They were down to play, and they gave us a good game; it was really fun,” Campbell said. “It was really nice to meet them and great to meet new students through these types of events that we have.”
The competitive sports manager for ASI at the BRIC, Agon Abazi, worked with his team to get as much exposure as possible for ASI’s events. He cited some external factors as to why the spikeball tournament might have flown under the radar.
“There are a lot of new students on campus, so I think they may not necessarily know what programming is available,” Abazi said. “It’s also midterms week, so people are pretty busy; it’s also the weekend right before spring break.”
ASI will be holding more tournament and events the rest of the semester. A newsletter is sent to every student via email with information for upcoming events and how to sign up for them. Students interested in ASI events can also search for them on the ASI website.
Featured image by Zach Strohecker.
