VanFleet a key contributor for MSU dodgeball team in its first national title season

EAST LANSING – As Zach VanFleet prepared for his first semester of college, there’s one thing he promised himself he wouldn’t do.

Fall out of sports.

The 2022 Cheboygan Area High School graduate who played both varsity soccer and golf needed to find something – anything – to do as he began life as a student at Michigan State University.

As he searched around, his mother Angela sent him a flyer, and he gave it a look.

“I was like, ‘Oh, dodgeball? What is this?’” recalled VanFleet. “But I said, ‘You know what? I have nothing better to do and I might as well go check it out.’”

Months later, you can say VanFleet is happy he decided to give the unique club sport a try.

Not only has he become quite good, but he can also say he’s now a Division 1 national champion.

Most recently, VanFleet helped the Spartans win their first-ever National College Dodgeball Association (NCDA) championship with a victory over perennial powerhouse Grand Valley State University in the final.

“I felt really proud of myself and it meant a lot to be able to make that starting position as a freshman, as a rookie, coming into this sport with all these seniors and just seeing how competitive this sport actually is,” VanFleet said. “It definitely means a lot.”

For VanFleet, who is majoring in finance at MSU, it all went back to his first practice with the dodgeball Spartans, a powerhouse themselves who have played in numerous final fours. What VanFleet loved was the positive atmosphere during his early days as a member of the squad.

“Just being the first day there, I just had so much fun,” VanFleet said. “The guys there were great, they were having fun, and it was super laid back. I honestly just had a great time and wanted to keep coming back. The first few practices of the year were just to have everyone come have fun, see who can throw, see who can do what, and then after a couple practices I got approached by one of the captains and they said that they wanted me to come back and keep practicing with them, and then as the year went on, the practices that got closer to the tournaments were a little more serious, and then those were really the practices that mattered to determine whether I made the roster or not, and I ended up making the roster for that first tournament.”

As the Spartans rolled through a regular season schedule that included James Madison University (VA.), Central Michigan University, Saginaw Valley State University, the University of Nebraska (Lincoln), the University of Maryland (College Park), and of course GVSU, they found themselves still undefeated as the national tournament arrived.

Once the NCDA tournament began, the Spartans went to work by cruising through their matches at Ohio University (Athens) on Saturday, April 15. On Sunday, VanFleet and the Spartans advanced to the final after beating James Madison in the semifinals. Then came the mega showdown against the 11-time national champion Lakers, who were looking to defend the title they won a year prior. Sunday ended up being the day of the Spartans, who took down the Lakers and made history by becoming the school’s first-ever champion in dodgeball.

“Even coming into this year as a freshman and a rookie, I saw this team really have a lot of heart,” VanFleet said of the MSU team, which finished 19-0 and is the first unbeaten national champion since 2009. “This is our first national title. Coming into this, last year I was still in high school, obviously, but we lost to GVSU in the final, so they were defending (champions), so going up against them again for the title, that really made it mean a lot more, but I think what really makes it special was just we all get along really great, we’re all there for each other.

“It’s really just one big family.”

The even better news for VanFleet is his dodeball career is only getting started.

And with a natty already to his name, he hopes to lead the program to more glory in future seasons.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” VanFleet said. “We had a very impressive rookie class come in, including me and a few people I’m really good friends with now, but I’m just really excited to see who else we can bring in. Despite a lot of seniors leaving – a lot of our great players leaving – I still think we’re going to be great. We have some really strong players on the team right now, so I’m looking forward to seeing how this goes in the future.”

Unsure if he had any athletic options heading into MSU, VanFleet can now and forever say he’s a national champion as a member of the dodgeball squad.

“It’s crazy to say that we’re the first club team to win a national title,” VanFleet said. “We had dinner with (MSU president Teresa K. Woodruff) and it’s still just crazy hearing it. To be a part of it, it’s just great. Overall, just super emotional. It’s just amazing.”

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: VanFleet a key contributor for MSU dodgeball in national title season