At the 18th annual BotSwin Mud Volleyball Tournament, 101 teams competed by diving, scrambling and trudging through the mud to claim bragging rights and become the overall winners.
"Each year there is a different theme to the event, and this year we chose 'Mudcie the Place to Be' because we wanted it to be a community-focused event and tie in with the campus," fifth-year senior Tyler Peterson, chairperson for mud volleyball, said.
Teams competed on four muddy volleyball courts located beside the H2 lot beside the Schmidt and Wilson residence halls, on Sept. 17 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Sept. 18 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Mud Volleyball ended the Residence Hall Association "Rock the Halls" week, which also included a flag football tournament, a Talent/No Talent show and an RHA General Assembly meeting.
"I am not really for sure when the first mud volleyball event started, but I do know that Matt Mimms [founder of Mud Volleyball] started the games by saying, 'Let there be mud,' and so there was mud and it was good," Peterson said.
Karen Broo, a sophomore majoring in secondary education and English said beginning Thursday, committee members began prepping the field by mixing the mud and walking around in it to pick up rocks in order to make the playing field safe. Grounds crew then watered the field in order to keep the field ready for play. At 6 a.m. on Saturday, the nets were put up and ropes were put down to signify the court lines.
Each team consisted of at least six players with at least two boys and two girls on each team. The games were 10 minutes long or the first to 11 points. Each team was placed in one of four brackets, and the winner of each game was determined by the best of three matches, Broo said.
Peterson said a registration fee of $25 and an additional $10 sportsmanship fee was needed to compete, but if a team is good, they can get the $10 back or choose to donate the money to Muncie Red Cross.
Whether it was a person's first year playing or they had played before, the general consensus was that the event was enjoyable.
"I did this last year, and it was so much fun. I have not played volleyball since middle school, but this was a really good experience, and I liked it a lot," sophomore Camille Chandler said. Chandler played on four different teams, three of which won.
Sophomore Gabe Khouli, a first year player, said he decided to play because mud volleyball looked like a lot of fun. He said he was hoping to have fun, enjoy a good experience, and hang out with friends.
On the second day of play, all 101 teams that had started out dwindled down to 32 teams.
"The beginning rounds were fun, and people seemed to just joke around but once teams started getting into these upper levels, the games got harder, and people started to become a little more serious," freshman Stephanie Kussman said. Kussman played on two different teams, with one of her teams making it to the final four. "This event is a great way to meet people on your floor, and it raises money for the Red Cross, and it's nice to help them."
The championship game came down between the Ringerz team and the Breucrew team. The Ringerz had gotten to the championship by beating two-time defending champions, Dynasty, while the Breucrew got into the championship by beating Swin 3.
"We worked really hard. We were the underdogs coming in and were not known until we reached the final four. That is when we really started to come together as a team," senior Colleen Bormann, a player for Ringerz, said.
In three matches, the Ringerz defeated the Breucrew and claimed its trophy.
"Our team didn't really know each other, and we just decided to work together. We are mostly all seniors, so we really cared about this and wanted to make it our last big win of the year," Bormann said.
Although they did not take first, team member Alexander Newman from Breucrew said the tournament was worth it.
"I had fun and the games were exciting. Our team came in with no expectations, and so it was sweet to come in second. We wanted it really bad but it was a fun, clean and nice game," Newman said.
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