Swamp Bowl 2017 was put on by Recreational Sports & Wellness and Campus Activities Board. Three pits that were filled with mud and water served as the courts for the end of semester mud volleyball tournament which took place over the course of seven and a half hours.
Regina Pergola/The Lion's Roar
For seven hours, 22 teams played in a double elimination mud volleyball tournament at Swamp Bowl. Hosted by the Recreational Sports and Wellness Center and Campus Activities Board outside the Pennington, the volleyball games were played in three courts, which were pits dug in the ground and filled with water to create a muddy platform.
The Swamp Bowl took place on Friday, Apr. 28. Teams had the opportunity to register until Apr. 14 with the guarantee of a T-shirt.
Deryn Hill, a junior biology major on the team Kiss My Ace played in the first round against the team Block Party.
“It was really hard to jump around in mud,” said Hill. “You think you’re going to go dive to get a ball and your feet just stay stuck where they are.”
Starting at 12:30 p.m., teams played each other in a bracket format until the final two teams played against one another at 7:30 p.m. The Swamp Goats won the final tournament, beating I’d Hit That with a score of 25-19.
Monica Ramon, a junior mathematics major on I’d Hit That described her experience playing with her roommate and her teammate on the volleyball team.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Ramon. “Especially playing volleyball in muddy water.”
Ramon expressed that she had been in the audience during the past year’s Swamp Bowl and was inspired to play this year as a result.
Ty’Desha Hall is a REC Kids worker and she was with a group of children from the REC Kids After School Program that observed the mud volleyball tournament for a portion of the games.
“Today is just Friday,” said Hall. “They usually don’t have homework. Today is just a fun day. So, this is going on, and they couldn’t pay attention during snack time, so we were like ‘Let’s bring them out here.’”
CAB Coordinator Nick Elliott expanded on what Swamp Bowl means to the university and its students.
“Swamp Bowl was started 10 years ago,” said Elliott. “It’s something fun for the students to do. We do it at the end of the year for students to come out and to enjoy. It’s just kind of a simple tradition. They look forward to it. It doesn’t take a lot of thought or a lot of practice to be able to be good at this volleyball tournament. It’s just a good time to get out there and enjoy the last few days of class.”
Other teams that played were Brudders From Another Mudder, Be Served, Crazy Wet Suits, Sets On The Beach, Jaeger Bombs, Alter Servers, Diggs, Deez Nets, Brick Squad, Muddy Tacos, Mudd Dawgs, MBA Jam, Swamp Foots, MBA Green, Team Extreme, 1998 Mulan, Swamp Goats, Swamp Swimmers, Swamp Donkies and MBA Gold Squad.
The final event that CAB is putting on will be held today, Tuesday, May 2.
“We only have one more event and that’s our second Puppy Pawlooza,” said Elliott. “I think it starts at 11. We work with local animal shelters to bring puppies onto campus. Just for students to come and enjoy some kind of pet therapy. Just to come play with a dog and enjoy it right before finals kicks in.”
The 2017 Swamp Bowl mud volleyball double elimination tournament took place last Friday. The Campus Activities Board and the Recreational Sports & Wellness, who hosted Swamp Bowl, served drinks while Mario Lozanov, the owner of City Gelato, sold hand crafted gelato.
Regina Pergola/The Lion's Roar
Regina Pergola/The Lion's Roar
Regina Pergola/The Lion's Roar
Regina Pergola/The Lion's Roar