Cisek/Showalter and Ogres Heroes Win 2017 Spikeball™ Roundnet Association Championships After Dominant Seasons

The Premier and Women's division champions pose for a picture after 2017 Nationals.

When the 2017 Spikeball™ Roundnet Association Nationals was first canceled at 6 a.m. the day of the tournament, we knew we were in for a wild day. After the Spikeball™ crew secured indoor facilities and the tournaments began, the craziness continued in the form of bracket upsets.

Despite all of this, things did go as expected: Cisek/Showalter (Tyler Cisek and Peter Jon Showalter) and Ogres Heroes (Alli Kaufman and Becca Witmer) won the Premier and Women's Divisions, respectively.

In the pre-tournament prediction polls, 67 percent of voters believed that Cisek/Showalter would win and 61 percent had their money on Ogres Heroes. These were safe bets, as Cisek/Showalter had only lost one tournament all season and Ogres Heroes had not lost a single one. Their wins at 2017 Nationals did not come easily, but these two teams let us know that they are certainly the best roundnet has to offer. 

From left to right, Spicy Rubi (second, Dan McPartland and Anthony Rentsch), Cisek/Showalter (first, Peter Jon Showalter and Tyler Cisek), and 2 Guys (third, Preston Bies and Troy Mauk) pose for a picture after the Premier division of 2017 Nationals.

The rest of the tournament results were a little unexpected. For starters only half teams in the Premier Division semifinals and quarterfinals were ranked in the top 8 of the Power Rankings.

This was due in part to a stacked side of the bracket which contained seven of the top eight teams. There were also a handful of upsets, like the unranked Heckleberry Win's (Caleb and Corey Heck) victory over #10 Origin Chaos (Ryan Weiler and Matt Bohnen) in the round of 32 and #11 Easily Dug's (Andrew Card and Travis Core) victory over #5 Origin Impact (Chris Hornacek and Patrick Drucker) in the round of 16. Strange Embrace (Devin Matson and Jarratt Rouse), ranked #2 in the nation, went 4-4 in pool play to receive #25 seed in bracket play, which added a little extra chaos.

At the end of the day, we had two unexpected semifinal participants in Spicy Rubi (Anthony Rentsch and Daniel McPartland) and Easily Dug, who both showed what they could do last month at their respective regionals. 

Cisek/Showalter pushed through #2 Strange Embrace and #3 2 Guys (Troy Mauk and Preston Bies) before meeting Rubi in the finals. 

After an exciting three-game affair, the #1 team halted the potential upset and were crowned as national champions, a title that is well-deserved after their dominant season. Cisek did remark that Rubi was their toughest opponent all day, but the first-ever all East team to reach the finals could not muster up enough breaks to take home a national title.

From left to right, Cougs (second, Michaela Hershberger and Ashley Gingerich), Ogres Heroes (first, Alli Kauffman and Becca Witmer), and MØXIE (third, Jenna Coleman and Julie Haselton) pose for a picture after the women's division of 2017 Nationals.

The Women's Divison also had an unexpected semifinals and finals participant in Cougs (Ashley Gingerich and Michaela Hershberger). Cougs first upset veinte hamburguesas (Tori Farlow and Charissa Wright) in the quarterfinals and then MØXIE (Jenna Coleman and Julie Haselton) in the semifinals. In the finals, #1 Ogres Heroes stopped Cougs' run. Ogres Heroes has now not lost a women's event since June 2016. 

Today's post will just be an information dump, with results from the quarterfinals games onward from the Premier and Women's Divisions, and finishes for all divisions. 

Premier division results:

1st: Cisek/Showalter

2nd: Spicy Rubi

3rd: 2 Guys

4th: Easily Dug

T-5th: Anchored LI, Heckleberry Win, Schizik, Strange Embrace

T-9th: Do a Barrel Roll, Bullcity Spikes, Ohio Against the World, Hilltop Spikes, Nashburgh, Bud n' Boles, Origin Impact, Tetelestai

T-17th: Brayson & Grady, Rucinski + Farlow, The Brothers Zimm, Golden Set, Ratons, Point Loma Spike, Sub-Par Team, TnT, Living Weirdos, Sonic Boom, The Deatheaters, Origin Chaos, Bolivia, Double B's, Origin Force, Origin Unknown

T-33th:The Fire Extinguishers, Santa Cruz Slingerz, WE THE NORTH, Knights of the Roundnet, Flight, Happily Ever After, Yummy, MKE Skoes Bros, Fuller Hall, Cho's Bros, Real Bros of Natick MA, Never Give Up, Shrimp on the Barbie, Daddy's Crackers, Sleeper Pick, Let's Go, Origin Flow, Origin Venom, RiseUpLights, No Sweet All Salty, Spiker, No Spiking!

Results:

Quarterfinals

• Cisek/Showalter over Strange Embrace
• Easily Dug over Heckleberry Win
• 2 Guys over Anchored LI
• Spicy Rubi over Schizik

Semifinals

• Cisek/Showalter over 2 Guys
• Spicy Rubi over Easily Dug

Finals

• Cisek/Showalter over Spicy Rubi (23-25, 21-16, 21-18)

Third Place

• 2 Guys over Easily Dug (15-11, 15-11)

Women's division results:

1st: Ogres Heroes

2nd: Cougs

3rd: MØXIE

4th: Whipper Snappers

T-5th: veinte hambuguesas, Fierce Unicorns, Lagertha, Sottovaluato

T-9th: The TWA Sisters, Batwomen, Remember The Name, H+M, Bombdiggity, Green Bowl Packers, Valkyrie, Chardee MacDennis

Results:

Quarterfinals

• MØXIE over Fierce Unicorns
• Ogres Heroes over Sottovaluato
• Whipper Snappers over Lagertha
• Cougs over veinte hamburguesas

Semifinals

• Cougs over MØXIE
• Ogres Heroes over Whipper Snappers

Finals

• Ogres Heroes over Cougs

Third Place

• MØXIE over Whipper Snappers

Now that Nationals is over, here is the final list of 2017 Spikeball™ Elite teams:

Men

1. Cisek/Showalter
2. Strange Embrace
3. Origin Impact
4. Anchored LI
5. 2 Guys
6. Spicy Rubi
7. Easily Dug
8. Golden Set

Women

1. Ogres Heroes
2. Cougs
3. MØXIE
4. Whipper Snappers

Here are the results from the Advanced and Intermediate Divisions, as well.

Advanced Division

1st: DT

2nd: Church Da 5'9"

3rd: Schice

4th: Spikealogical Warfare

T-5th: Spikes In Whites, Gock City, Colonel Sanders, Thwack Daddies

T-9th: C to Shining C, Instruments of Crime, Covefe, Royale With Cheese, Booshie Inc., Team USA, Rimbo Slice, Altitude

T-17th: Tree and Shrubbery,  Bushwackers, Pocket Change, Dink Wisconsinably, Icy Spikes, Chi Towns Unexpected, Loman Empire, Blue Shampoo Banana Guys, Unashamed, BC-SWAG, The Bros, Simply Smashing, Spike Brothers, Floor Captains, Team Roadhouse, Walkin' by two

T-33th: St. Louis Sauce, Long John Spikers, Ball Don't Lie, Warm Balls, Dragon Thunder, Kinda Amish, Purdue'n It, Young Pros, Monstars, A Squared, Sunny D's, You Spike, I Smash, 2 Hit Hooligans, Stormin' Mormons, Dodgeball Players, Pocket Lock Drop It, Purple Maroons, MKE Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica, Fight the New Drug

Intermediate Division

1st: Junior Varsity

2nd: 'Merica

3rd: Spike Tyson

4th: SpikeAholics

T-5th: Victory Hill Farm, Bone Apple Tea, 99 Problems But A Beach Ain't One, Runnin' Wild

T-9th: Dear the D, That Team, Beach Bros, Chaverim, Rise of 615, Abusement Park, Burger Boys,Money Shot

T-17th: Sallays, Dos Amigos, Tune Squad, Slow Hands, Practice Safe Sets, Cucumber Baby, DJSpike, Digital Dominators, no solution, Spikological Warfare, Six Foot Smackdown, Nick and Dave, Orphans, Tom Brady, This Isn't Kan Jam???, Ace Ace Baby

T-33th: Space Slam, Pound Town, Mullet Over, Battle Ball, Abhi & a Stranger, Blind Monkeys, Muffin Men, Spike-a-Saurus, American Fremonsters, One Eyed Blinds, Spikeaholics #2, Archers, Barbaric Bisons,  Meg and Sam, Super Smashed Bros, The Bronamic Duo, Team Nikolai, Beenman no, Jazz Hands, Hispanic Hands, Babes in Blue

Of course, this post is not the last of The Rally's coverage of 2017 Nationals. Rather it's just the beginning. In the coming days and weeks we will have plenty more to say about what went down at the fourth ever Spikeball™ Roundnet Association Nationals.

Be prepared.

Got something related to roundnet that you want to know more about? Have any topics you want to be discussed on the podcast? Contact Mike White at mwhitey17@gmail.com  or @mwhitey17 on Twitter.