By Matthew Barnes
The newly established Roundnet Club traveled to Bowling Green, Ky. to compete against two other college clubs on Sept. 15. This was the group’s second tournament of the semester after bringing two teams to Atlanta, GA the week prior.
After starting up the club this semester, junior Zeke Friedeman strongly encouraged players to get their feet wet in a higher level of competition. Asbury brought 16 people: seven teams and two members who just watched.
“It was a good learning experience for me, just kind of getting used to the players that go to tournaments. Hopefully, I can improve upon that, learn to get better and go to more tournaments,” sophomore Ethan Reynolds said.
There were 21 teams total. The teams started play at 9 a.m. and didn’t get back to campus until around 8:30 p.m.
The event was divided into three sessions of competition. It started with pool play, where the teams were divided up into three groups of seven, known as “pools,” and teams would play every other team in their pool. The team’s record in those six games would determine its seeding for the next session of play.
The second session was bracket play, which played out similar to any bracket-style tournament. Teams were seeded, and if a team won its matchup, it moved on the next round. This went on until only two teams were left, and they played for the championship.
The last session was college play, which was more of a college vs. college style. Asbury was divided up into an “A” squad, a “B” squad and a “C” squad. Those squads of teams went up against other colleges’ squads in order to determine which college was the best.
The club achieved some success during competition. A team of Friedeman and senior Zach Webb placed second in bracket play after going undefeated in pool play, and Asbury also placed second in college play.
“It was a really fun day. Everyone that went got to get some good games in, and it was pretty successful for a first tournament as a club, and [the club is] looking forward to a lot more,” Friedeman said.
The club has pick-up games on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4-6 p.m. and plans on participating in future tournaments.
