By Justin Loring, Sport Editor
In the penultimate event of Greek Week, 10 of the 19 Greek life organizations competed in the Greek Week Dodgeball tournament, held in the Granite State Room.
In a round robin tournament, 10 teams competed in a best 2-out-of-3 format for match ups. Teams had eight (or in the case of Alpha Phi, only six) members playing at a time, using the same rules as in the movie Dodgeball: any body contact except headshots counts as an out, catching a ball results in an out and a teammate coming back and the ref’s word is final.
After the initial round, which saw four teams eliminated, the first match up was between Alpha Phi and Sigma Phi Epsilon. The women of A Phi were involved in a heated match in the first round against Alpha Sigma Chi, making a dramatic comeback in the third and final game of the set. They organized the team just “five minutes before the event,” according to member Maria Millan.
“We came out fighting, came out strong,” Ali Doherty said. “We won the first round, then they came back to tie it up. The next thing we knew [in game 3], Lindsay [Hydorn] was the only one left.”
Hydorn was left in a 5-on-1 situation up in the deciding game of the match.
“We knew if she got one more [out], we’d have a chance,” Ali Doherty said.
Hydorn made a crucial catch to bring teammate Lainey Bernfeld onto the court, making it just a three-on-two deficit. Hydorn made another catch to give her team an advantage. The final out was recorded by Millan who “bobbled it [at first], but then I caught it.”
Alpha Phi was involved in another close match in the semifinals, taking on the eventual-champions Sigma Phil Epsilon 1. Sig Ep swept the first game with a two-man advantage, playing 8-on-6 and not taking any outs. The second match was played 6-on-6, with A Phi taking it to the boys and winning after suffering the first out. After the initial run-up resulting in A Phi owning a 4-on-3 advantage, Doherty made a catch to suddenly make the game 5-on-2. One more hit and another catch by Morgan Didonato allowed A Phi to tie it up.
The final game looked bleak for Sig Ep, who at one point were down to its final player, Zach Fone. Fone twice thought he clipped someone in the 3-on-1, but the referee didn’t reward him with the point. He battled back in the waning minutes, eventually getting the final out and putting his team into the championship.
“We came in second place last semester and first place the semester before that,” Fone said. “So we’re back to assert our dominance.”
The final round consisted of the two Sig Ep teams playing and Sigma Nu taking on Kappa Sigma. Sigma Nu captured the first game in a long-winded, back-and-forth battle that used a majority of the teams’ time. This proved to be crucial in the second game, as Sigma Nu was awarded with the victory as time expired.
The final was a six-minute marathon, in which the team who won the most games was named the victor. The teams debated on going ten-on-ten for the final, but the court was two cramped to support that many players. A few brothers proposed making the GSR into a full court, but, according to Kelty, “we don’t have enough tape.”
Sig Ep’s combined team was named champion after the six minutes, being awarded the points for Greek Week and earning bragging rights until next year.
The event was organized by Colleen Kelty, a member of Alpha Zeta Delta, and is the president of the PanHellenic council. Denise Perry (Sigma Alpha), president of the United Greek Association, was alongside Kelty for the event, helping officiate and organize the event.
“This is part of Greek Week and I’ve been kind of the frontman of planning Greek Week,” Kelty said.