As Patches O’Houlihan said in the 2004 film “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” “Just remember the five D’s of dodgeball: dodge, duck, dip, dive and… dodge!”

The No. 1-nationally ranked Grand Valley State University Dodgeball team did just that and then some as they cruised past opposition at the Chicago Dodgeball Open, hosted by DePaul University on Saturday.

The Lakers were paired up against Moody Bible Institute, Western Illinois University and Michigan State University in the three-game, round robin tournament played at the Ray Meyer Fitness & Recreation Center in Chicago.

Junior team captain Mark Trippiedi said that GVSU fielded a slightly different team than usual.

“We took new players that haven’t played at the varsity level before,” Trippiedi said. “They all stepped up really well and helped out a lot, especially when we had to battle back when we went down on the score board.”

GVSU won all three of its games, defeating Moody Bible 7-1, Western Illinois 6-0 and Michigan State 4-1. It was the second meeting between the Spartans and Lakers; they last met on Dec. 3, a 7-1 victory for GVSU.

Junior Dylan Fettig, club president, was equally impressed with the new players’ display on the court.

“Half our roster consisted of freshmen making their first varsity team appearances,” Fettig said. “We gave them more action as we started to realize our dominance over the opposition. We were all tough out there and played strong.”

Fettig said many of the freshmen were introduced to collegiate dodgeball in a special way.

“There were a lot of face shots out there,” Fettig said. “There were a few players that were hit in the face consistently, maybe three or four times over the course of the tournament.”

But the team shook off the painful hits and bounced back to three straight wins.

Prior to the start of the season, senior Brian Savalle, club treasurer, said the upperclassmen were a little worried about the new crop of incoming freshmen and an increased amount of inexperience throughout the roster.

“We were concerned with the large number of us graduating this year,” Savalle said. “But after seeing this group, our tradition of winning and playing tough smash-mouth dodgeball will continue on. This is the best group to come in since my freshman year. There is a ton of overall raw talent and we just did not see it coming. We are floored to know that the team is going to be strong after we leave.”

jmaheredgin@

lanthorn.com