Swamp Bowl V began at noon on Friday, April 20 in front of the Pennington Center. After five hours of nonstop mud volleyball, the tournament came down to three champion teams: “Just Did It” in the co-ed division, “Alpha Omicron Pi” in the female division and “Unprotected Sets” in the male division.

“This has to be one of the coolest events we have on campus,” said Jonathan Ambrose, the coordinator of Swamp Bowl. “The students really get into it, and I think everything went great.”

Ambrose said that as of Wednesday morning, only four teams were signed up, but on the day of the competition there were forty-one teams signed up and eager to compete.

“We didn’t have a whole lot of time for marketing after spring break, so we’re going to start marketing early and I want fifty teams or more next year,” said Ambrose. “Also, next year I’d love to see more faculty and staff teams. Students love playing against me. A lot of them know me from the Union. They love playing against the police officers. It’s good competition. It’s a good way to beat us.”

Lindsey Gros, a freshman majoring in communications, played on the team “The Fuzz” in the co-ed division of the mud volleyball tournament.

“It’s different because you’re in the mud and it’s more slippery,” said Gros. “It’s harder to get a feel for it. But it was fun and I had a blast and I would do it again.”

Although “The Fuzz” did not make it to the finals in their division, they and all the other students enjoyed playing.

“It’s been an amazing day of fun in the mud and sun,” said Jayse Morgan, a freshman majoring in marketing.

Morgan, a member of Delta Tau Delta, played on the co-ed team called “The I in Team,” which consisted of members of his fraternity and Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority. “The I in Team” made it to the finals of the co-ed competition before losing to the co-ed champion team “Just Did It.”

In the female division, Alpha Omicron Pi defeated “TPA Time,” “CSD Heaven,” “The Mable Lees” and “Better Than You Since 1852.”

“We struggled to really overcome the odds of diversity that we faced in our first couple of games, but I never thought we’d make it this far,” said Cali Crain, a senior majoring in elementary education and a competing member on the Alpha Omicron Pi team. “We really overcame and exceeded our expectations today.”

Drew Misita, an accounting freshman, played on the male division champion team “Unprotected Sets.”

“We’ll be back next year,” said Misita. “Bigger, stronger, faster. Believe dat.”

In the end, the male champion team defeated both the co-ed and the female champion teams, but everyone who participated left with positive thoughts about Swamp Bowl V.

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