On Jan. 26, (and into Jan. 27), the Southern Intramural Department hosted its annual 3-on-3 volleyball tournament. Twenty-two different teams of three (12 men’s and 10 women’s) gathered in Iles Gymnasium for the tourney.
From 7 p.m. until the tournament finally wrapped up around 1 a.m., there was almost nonstop volleyball action. Balls flying everywhere, whistles blowing and fans cheering. The tournament was double-elimination style, with a losing team moving into the “loser’s bracket” until they lost a second time. The winner of that bracket would then play the winner of the “winner’s bracket.” The loser representative would need to defeat the winner twice in order to win.
Some team names were very clever. The bracket for the men started with Big Franks, Set ‘Em Hussein, The Matadores, Mahu Backhanders, ThunderNuggets, Notorious D.I.G., Big Hero 3, The Mini Coopers, Haymakers, Net Ninjas and the PaceMakers.
For the ladies, the teams were Ace Bandages, Net Ninjas, Smash Brothers, Haikyuu!, Hot Tamales, Bet You’re Not Down, Life’s A Cartoon, Spike It Like It’s Hot, Block n’ Roll Babes and How I Set Your Mother.
The tournament finished around 1 a.m. with Ace Bandages, the winner’s bracket winner, defeating Haikyuu! for the ladies. Ace Bandages consisted of Alexis Schultz, Jenna Aguila, Valentina Conner and Ailynn Suarez-Rojas.
For the men, The Matadores from the loser’s bracket took home the trophy. The Matadores roster was Byron Montenegro, Harold Carvajal, Luis Sanchez, Juan Sanchez Jimenez and Dominik Werner.
For a five-plus hour tournament, fan attendance and interaction were excellent. The play on the courts was top notch. The Intramural Department’s tournament was a complete success.