After beating Central Michigan University 2-1 two weeks ago en route to a No. 1 finish at the Michigan Dodgeball Cup, the Chippewas got revenge on the Grand Valley State University dodgeball team this weekend, stomping the Lakers 3-0.

After falling behind 1-0 early after all 15 Lakers were knocked out, GVSU held a large advantage and looked to be in position to tie the score, but Central Michigan was able to stall long enough to tick the final seconds off the clock in the first half. Central Michigan then beat the Lakers early in the second half to grab a stranglehold on the game.

“We made a lot of mistakes,” said senior Greg Trippiedi. “By the time we called timeout to try to adjust our strategy it was too late, we were playing from behind -and that was kind of the story to the whole game.”

It was the third time this season GVSU has faced Central Michigan, which is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. Back in November, the Chippewas won 4-2 in Mount Pleasant, followed by the 2-1 win for the Lakers in the Michigan Dodgeball Cup.

“They played like the number one team today,” Trippiedi said. “I was impressed by the way they played and the way they were able to force us into mistakes, and all we want to do if we want to defeat them is just go back to playing as a team.”

GVSU was far behind in the first point with just three players remaining after ten minutes of play. Central Michigan had eight left, but the Lakers staged a comeback and had one player remaining against two Chippewas, but it didn’t last long and Central Michigan got the 1-0 lead.

The Lakers’ popular ‘chaos theory’ – where the team has a very fast-paced style of play and focuses on making numerous simultaneous throws – may have gotten out of control on Sunday afternoon.

“I’m trying to introduce the strategy of chaos – and we were certainly chaotic, just a little too chaotic,” said team captain Jimmy Stokes. “We need to bring it down a little bit, at the (Michigan Dodgeball Cup) we had the right amount of chaos, but today we had too many single throws and too much solo play.”

Though the third game in the team’s season series went the Central Michigan, sophomore Kyle Peltier said the Chippewas are one of GVSU’s favorite team to go up against.

“It’s a good rivalry,” Peltier said. “Central is a good team, they’re fast, they know what they’re doing and know how to play. They’ve also got good sportsmanship, unlike some other teams that we’ve played, and we just like playing them because they’re a fun team to play and a hard team to play.

Sunday afternoon’s game may not be the final opportunity for the Lakers to gain the upper hand on Central Michigan this season. With both teams very likely to make a run at national in April, the top two teams in the state could face off again for the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association’s National Championship later on.

“If we want to beat them in April it’s going to take a commitment to team play that we just didn’t show today,” Trippiedi said.

The Lakers will be off for about three weeks before playing another home match, likely against the team’s top rival, Saginaw Valley State University, on March 20.

[email protected]