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This past weekend, the University of North Dakotas Roundnet Club travelled to and competed at the Spring College Sectionals for roundnet on UW-Stout’s campus in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Roundnet is a growing sport within the United States and is more commonly known as “Spikeball,” the primary manufacturer that produces the equipment to play the game.
The growth of the sport can be exemplified through the creation of the UND Roundnet Club that was founded by Club President Zane Wahlstrom last year. This past Sectional Tournament UND Roundnet placed 5th in the Open-D1 division making it back-to-back top 5 finishes between last fall and this spring.
After the event ended, Wahlstrom stated that he thought “sectionals were great this year and that he had a lot of fun travelling with and competing with the team” paying particular focus on the fact that this year was the first time that there was a woman’s team that competed as well. He expressed how cool it was “watching them compete and learn from their experience playing in a competitive setting for the first time.” It is evident that everyone who went along on the trip had a great time representing UND at sectionals.
Regarding how other teams ended up performing, St. Thomas ended up winning the Sectionals Tournament and earned themselves a Power Pool bid at Nationals this upcoming Spring in Blain, Minnesota.
Part of what makes this recent event so special is the fact that the competitive scene for roundnet has only really begun to gain traction within the past 5 to 10 years. Most of the programs that competed this past weekend are no more than 5 years old, yet with each passing year of organized competitive play, more schools are getting involved and adding to the great environment that was present at Sectionals this past weekend.
If playing competitive spikeball with a dedicated group of people at the collegian level sounds like something that may potentially interest you, be sure to visit the UND Roundnet Clubs Instagram page at @undroundnet and reach out via Instagram to potentially join the club and play this upcoming Fall.
Daniel Silva is a Dakota Student General Reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].