By Luke Mich
On Oct. 25, Spikeball Club held its annual fall tournament on the intramural field behind Rooney and Saint Benedict Halls. The president of the club, Thomas McKeon, declared the tournament a success.
“This semester’s tournament went very well with 12 two-person teams. It was the best turnout I have ever seen, and I have played in the tournament every semester since starting at SVC in the fall of 2017,” McKeon, a senior finance major, said.
With advanced health measures put in place this year due to COVID-19, there were some notable differences from the tournaments of years past.
“We had to use extra precaution while playing, such as wearing masks when we could not be six feet apart from each other and provide hand sanitizer for the participants use,” McKeon explained. “Also, we were unable to provide food and water for participants, as we normally do.”
Teams were placed in groups of four and played opponents in their respective groups. The winner of each group, as well as the best team that was not a group winner, advanced to the semi-finals. Group matches consisted of a best-of-three series, with the first to 15 points required to win by two for the victory, whereas the semi-finals and the final were single-elimination.
Sophomores Mike Pollak and Evan Ray, who won the tournament, noted that playing five teams was an interesting experience.
“I think the best part of the tournament was getting to play all the different teams,” Pollak, a criminology major, said. “Every team had a different style of play that we had to adjust for.”
In addition to the annual fall tournament, the Spikeball Club took part in the Halloween Festival later that week, sponsoring games on the turf field.
“We had a solid turnout and were able to recruit some new members,” McKeon said.
McKeon added that both spikeball events and his tenure as club president will end soon.
“We are done with events for this fall, with finals approaching. There will be a new club president, as I am graduating in December,” he explained.
Even so, McKeon predicted that there will be another tournament in the spring, as there is usually one for each semester.
As for Ray and Pollak, they both said they will be back to play again in the tournament.
Ray, an accounting and finance major, was emphatic: “I will definitely be back next year.”