Antwerp QC, Much of Belgian Core, Leaves Competitive Quidditch


Quadball is in a migratory period. Titles, at all levels of the sport, used to prefer the bluebonnet-covered prairies of Texas. For the better part of a decade, dynasties like the University of Texas, Austin Outlaws and Texas Cavalry reigned. Championships were often little more than a matter of inevitability.

But in the past 20 months, not a single trophy has made the flight south. The East Coast now boasts the most titles in the past two years, bolstered by having the largest number of college programs and an influx of graduating talent into its major cities. Meanwhile, the Great Lakes have also tired of being the odd region out, with Boom Train finally earning a USQ club championship in 2024.

There will be much to be decided this weekend at the 2025 US Quadball Cup in Richmond, but when it comes to College Division One, fresh cream rising to the top is not just an expectation, it is a guarantee. None of the nine schools competing for the crown have ever won a USQ title, and only one Texas school – Texas State University – is even in the field, after UTSA was forced to drop late due to lack of numbers. Two of the favorites hail from historical USQ regions that have never won a USQ championship in either the club or college top division. Simply put, it is time for the title of best college quadball program to find a new home.  

Now, let’s take a look at each of the nine programs looking to sit atop the mountain of college quadball this weekend.


The Contenders

Creighton University
Record: 16-0
Record vs. D1 Field: 6-0
Best Win: vs. University of Virginia, 185-90, Feb. 28, 2025
Worst Loss: N/A

If any team is desperate for some new US Quadball Cup results, it’s the division’s overwhelming favorites. The past three seasons, Creighton has entered nationals ranked either first or second in our polls. Despite that, the team has only made it to a single title game – a blowout loss to Texas in 2022 – with back-to-back upset losses to UTSA in 2023 and 2024 sending the team home early.

Creighton has already begun to exhume some demons this year on their way to nationals. They won their home tournament – Blue Jay Classic – for the first time in program history, and completed their first-ever undefeated regular season. No team in the field really fits the mold of the ones that have gotten the better of them in recent seasons either.

To its credit, Creighton has also cleaned up many of the issues that have plagued them in the past. Under the coaching of Amanda Dallas and Ryan Davis, this is a disciplined, organized squad. No longer a team relying on its athleticism to press opposition into submission, Creighton simply plays standard quadball better than any other team in the country. No longer a team at constant risk of losing its head, they picked up only two cards in their win over Virginia at Blue Jay Classic and one card in their win over Texas State at Diamond Cup. No longer a team regularly going into matchups against elite opposition at a beater disadvantage, they now have arguably the most talented and deepest beater core in the country, headlined by TJ O’Connor and Madi Namanny. 

But the piece tying it all together is the play of Riley Usami, undoubtedly the best chaser in college right now. Usami is an offense-in-a-box these days as a primary ball handler, capable of creating for himself with a deadly mid-range shot as well as others with a full arsenal of different passes. The team is built around this advantage, as well, with his beaters regularly focused on opening up space and his chaser teammates timing their runs to his drives. In a college season where many teams are struggling with their halfcourt offenses, Usami is one.

Their beater group, on the other hand, is much more of a committee. O’Connor and Namanny may be the headliners, but Max Chang and Ryan Cleary both bring veteran experience, while Derek Dearking was making headlines in his first season on Blue Jay (2023-24). All of them can move seamlessly between engage and free beater roles, and the team often sets up in a more horizontal beater setup, making taking effective exchanges difficult for opposing beaters.

Expect teams to come out looking to disrupt Usami however possible, whether with hoops zones to take away his shooting or triangle-and-one looks to make sure he is always marked. But if teams cannot make headway in the beater game, it’s likely that Creighton will be able to use its dodgeballs offensively to get him his opportunities anyway. 

Creighton has stumbled on the final hurdles of the USQ season time and again, but it’s hard to see the recipe for it happening yet again in Richmond. The team from Omaha is the heavy favorite for a reason, and anything but a title would be a truly shocking result.

University of Virginia
Record: 15-2
Record vs. D1 Field: 5-1
Best Win: vs. Brandeis University, 180-115, Nov. 2, 2024
Worst Loss: vs. Blue Jay QC, 215-190, Feb. 28, 2025

Virginia seems to creep a little closer to the promised land each season. Through 2022, the program consistently played second fiddle to the University of Maryland in its own region, struggling to break out fully on the national stage. In 2023, they made the quarterfinals of the US Quadball Cup, and this past season, the Cavaliers made their first ever semifinals, falling to UTSA in a tightly contested match. This nationals, anything short of a finals appearance would surely be seen as a disappointment.

Virginia continues to play with a unique, pressing style on defense, though the look went through some changes this year. In the past, the team would typically press in the half-court with a high chaser and beater, with an additional chaser in support. This year at qualifiers, the team would still press with a chaser and beater, but would often leave its other three chasers at hoops, instead either choosing not to support the two-player press, or to support it with the free beater. Whether this was a concession to the team’s smaller numbers at that tournament or a strategic adjustment by coach David Littleton remains to be seen.

This high press makes Virginia uniquely equipped to punish overmatched teams in a way that Creighton usually cannot even manage. This was on full display at qualifiers, where the Cavaliers consistently ran their opposition off the pitch in pool play, including a statement 180-30 win over Division One opponent RPI. But the press is also reliant on domination in the beater game – especially in its “hoops zone” version – and when it is not working, Virginia’s rotations in traditional half-court defense were often sloppy and slow to adjust, with Usami having his way against them at Blue Jay Classic and Brandeis University regularly being able to find open cutters in the Howard County Qualifier final – a match that came down to a final goal.

The main reason Virginia can get away with their aggressive defense is Rhett Krovitz, who has exploded onto the scene as one of the best college beaters in the country in his sophomore season. Krovitz showed off a big arm in his debut season, but has added a keen quadball IQ this year and much better all-around decision making, leaving opposing beaters with less opportunities to punish him for his aggressive play. At qualifiers, Krovitz often benefited from the follow-up play of Joey Beh as a free beater in the team’s press. Whether that is a set Virginia feels comfortable going to at nationals, however, remains to be seen.

Out of their press, Virginia loves to get out in transition, where star chaser Zan Siddiqui flourishes. But in the half court offense, the team has had some hiccups, a surprising issue for a program that has been known for its high-level passing in past years. In their biggest games of the regular season, Virginia has gone on long scoring droughts when their opponents can force them to play at a slow pace. The two main exceptions to this in the chaser game seem to be Emma Rollins – who was unavailable at Howard County Qualifiers – and Matt Steelberg – who was unavailable at Blue Jay Classic. Steelberg seems to see incisive passing opportunities the team’s other chasers have struggled to find all year, while Rollins is a massive threat whether taking a shot with the ball in hand or cutting off the ball into open space, for which she consistently has a nose. The two playing together at nationals may be the key to opening up the half-court game for Virginia.

The final hurdle standing in the Cavaliers way is one that haunted them for years: fouling discipline. Virginia was running away with their qualifiers’ matchup against Brandeis before a series of fouls – including two on a single play – swung the momentum, and Siddiqui was perhaps lucky to dodge an early red card against Creighton. With the core of this team on the smaller side, Virginia cannot afford to lose key pieces for minutes at a time, nevermind the entire rest of a game.

On paper, it is tough to see exactly how Virginia can match up with Creighton. But this is a program that has consistently peaked late in the season – a testament to its leadership – and we have not yet seen a version of this team this year with all of its weapons available. Whether that will be enough remains to be seen.

Texas State University
Record: 15-2
Record vs. D1 Field: 0-1
Best Win: vs. UTSA, 170-60, Oct. 26, 2024
Worst Loss: vs. University of Texas, 210-180, March 1, 2025

It has been a generation since Texas State made it this close to the pinnacle. At USQ Cup 10, they made it all the way to the finals of a pre-split nationals, bolstered by two beater pairs that would go on to receive US National Team call ups and a deep, veteran chaser core. The team eventually lost that championship match to Texas Cavalry by a flag runner catch, and the program has not sniffed another USQ Cup final since.

This season’s iteration of Texas State looks much different than the one that made that finals run eight years ago. Rather than using its beater aggression to create offense, this year’s Texas State prefers to play as much of the match with all of the dodgeballs on the ground as they can. And instead of a team looking to drive downhill to the hoop on almost every possession, this squad moves the ball around the offensive zone smoothly and loves to take mid-range shots when they are available.

The Bobcats operate their offense out of a diamond, and prefer to play out of the back of the offensive zone. They’re so committed to this look that they will at times put David Avila, their strongest quadball player, behind to run the offense off that first pass. The majority of the time, however, it’s Ian Crowe, who is also an adept passer and shooter, manning that position. Texas State’s offense largely runs as a two-chaser game between the ball carrier and the player behind, looking to find an open driving lane for one or the other. The wings are there to support, and also to cut off of the ball carrier’s drives, a spot where Catherine Hay picks up numerous goals.

To run this action safely, Texas State uses its beaters to create chaos around the hoops. They are willing to take trades that may not work out in the long-term, but get the balls on the ground in the short-term. This gives the Bobcats time to get the quadball behind the hoops and let their star chasers go to work. But when it’s not working, as it didn’t at times in the team’s loss to Creighton, a talented free beater can start feasting on the pass behind, rendering the team’s offense ineffective.

Defensively, Texas State is also willing to allow their beaters to remain focused on the dodgeball game, relying on the physicality of their chasers to hold down the fort. This allows the team’s beater core, headed by Samuel Regardia and Brandy Gomez, to be more effective in matchups they may otherwise be outgunned in.

What makes Texas State tricky to effectively rate this year is their lack of games outside of Texas, a state that notably has sent no other teams to Division One. The Bobcats only other game against the field was a competitive but decisive loss to Creighton five months ago. With Texas playing a lot of similar styles across the state, and with all teams in the area incredibly familiar with each other, the team may be unprepared to adjust to the variety of looks they may get from opponents in Richmond.

There is no disputing that Texas State has top-end college talent, and they have been effective all season at playing in ways that maximize that talent’s impact. If they can continue to do that this weekend, they could easily be one of the most dangerous teams in the tournament. But if their opposition can disrupt the Bobcats’ Plan A, it remains to be seen whether Plan B can be enough to prevent an early Sunday exit.


Brandeis University
Record: 17-3
Record vs. D1 Field: 5-3
Best Win: vs. Boston University, 225-30, March 22, 2025
Worst Loss: vs. University of Virginia, 180-115, Nov. 2, 2024

Brandeis’s rise to the upper echelon on college quadball over the past few seasons has been precipitous. Nevermind making a national final, the program had never made a Massachusetts Quadball Conference final before last season and never finished in the top two at a regionals or qualifier until this year, losing to Virginia by a single goal. But this isn’t your older brother’s Brandeis. The school now boasts one of only two remaining college B-teams in the entire country and it is developing top-tier talent year after year, elevating the team all the way to national contenders in Richmond.

The team’s strengths start in the quadball game, where veterans Eli Fighter and Shakti Koderswaren lead the way. Fighter is a multifaceted primary ball carrier with an accurate shot he has learned to better choose his spots with in recent years and the physicality to get to the hoops when the situation calls for it. Koderswaren is an adept passer, as well, but is at his best playing as an off-ball target man, difficult to account for with his height and athleticism.

Around Fighter and Koderswaren, the coaching staff has the ability to mix and match as the situation calls for. Caitlyn Pennie gives the team another player that can play comfortably with a ball in hand. Braedy Guenther gives more height around the hoops. Michael Zhang adds defensive physicality. Brandeis has been hesitant to stretch their stars’ minutes for much of the season given their sizable depth, but if there was ever going to be a time to change that, bracket play this weekend would be that time.

While Brandeis’s chasing game is one of the strongest in the nation, the beating game remains susceptible, especially against the top talent in the country. Ben Lambright has long been the team’s go-to starter, but won’t be favored in many head-to-head matchups this weekend. Brandeis found success at qualifiers pairing Lambright with Ryan Callaghan, and also has the option to throw off opposing beater’s rhythms with the physicality of Marcus Sutton, but the coaching staff will likely need to keep a short leash on pairings to find matchups that can play to parity. 

While the dodgeball game may not be the team’s strong suit, the seeking game is where the team may find an edge in big matches. Coach Tyler Beckmann – a great seeker in his own right – has trained up a committee of talented seekers to throw at flag runners in waves, with Fighter joined by Rowan Scassellati and first year Matan Schwartz. In 19 games this season, Brandeis has caught 15 flag runners, four more than Texas State and Virginia have caught combined. Such a priority on the yellow headband has paid dividends in big games for them already this season, and may afford the team a 35-point handicap on a regular basis this weekend.

Expect Brandeis to come into this tournament prepared. Not only does the team feature a deep, veteran core that has allowed the coaching staff to focus more on strategic adjustments than fundamentals, but they have also played more official games than any other team in the field. Whether that will be enough to overcome the top teams under the bright lights of Sunday bracket play remains to be seen, but we’ve already seen Brandeis’s resiliency this season, and should expect nothing less this weekend.

 

The Longshots

Boston University
Record: 12-6
Record vs. D1 Field: 3-5
Best Win: vs. RPI, 190-80, March 22, 2025
Worst Loss: vs. Brown University, 175-140, March 1, 2025

The team’s top beater pair of Cleo Brooks and Will White are worth the price of admission and have consistently allowed BU to punch above its weight, including an impressive 130-100 win over Rutgers University at the Howard County Qualifier. Brooks has a plethora of one-on-one skills at the engage spot, allowing White to use their speed to pester opposing chasers as a free beater. BU is at its best when using its beater pressure to get out in transition on offense, but often struggles to find goals in the half-court game. That, along with a seeking game that caught just three flag runners all season, may prevent BU from being the upset threat their beating game is capable of making them.


University of Missouri
Record: 6-6
Record vs. D1 Field: 1-4
Best Win: vs. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 175-130, Nov. 16, 2024
Worst Loss: vs. Blue Jay QC, 160-80, March 9, 2025

Mizzou has come out this year running many of the same systems that made it a Final Four team in 2024. Their defensive looks have not changed, and they are still a shot-happy team on offense, with Jackson Herdade typically playing the shooter role this season. They’re also always going to do all they can to maximize the influence of Lauren Smith, undoubtedly one of the best chasers in college quadball, on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately, much of what the Tigers did last season was on the back of top-tier beater play, and while Miles Himmelmann has made the position switch to try to bolster that group this year, they have not been able to find that same magic. And while Smith remains a brick wall on the defensive end, she struggles to contribute for Mizzou on offense in the way she does for the Kansas City Stampede in MLQ. It’s difficult to see a world where either the Tigers chasers or beaters match up with the favorites this weekend.


Arizona State University
Record: 5-1
Record vs. D1 Field: 0-0
Best Win: vs. UCLA, 145-80, Feb. 8, 2025
Worst Loss: vs. UCLA, 150-120, Nov. 2, 2024

A year ago, ASU entered the US Quadball Cup as an unknown with a fairly high ceiling. Dealt into the Pool of Death, they finished 0-3, though the record undersells the team’s performance, including a 190-150 loss to eventual finalist UTSA. This year, the team is even more of an unknown, having played just four total official games against college teams all season, three of which were against UCLA. We know that Austin Cruz is a rising star in the sport at both chaser and seeker, and Tanner Bonheimer and Bryanna McLaughlin are back to lead an aggressive and physical beater core. This trio may catch some opponent’s flat-footed on day one, but it’s hard to expect too much from a team with so little official match experience this season.


RPI
Record: 9-7
Record vs. D1 Field: 1-6
Best Win: vs. Boston University, 160-155, Oct. 5, 2024
Worst Loss: vs. Emerson College, 145-100, Oct. 12, 2024

RPI has struggled to be more than the sum of its parts this season, which is disappointing as there is no shortage of talent within those parts. Ad Ojo and Viviana Estrada both have extensive experience at the highest level of the sport, with Ojo offering the team a real seeking threat and Estrada’s physicality bolstering the team’s defensive looks. Ben Fawthrop is a gifted shooter, while Anson Decker’s size is matched by few players in college quadball. The team even bolstered its beating this season with the addition of graduate student Colin Gaines, formerly of Columbia College of Chicago. But the squad has put together a series of puzzling results this year – including an early season loss to Emerson College – and have not been within 35 points of a team in the Division One field in over six months. RPI may be able to find a win or two against the bottom half of the field, but a 180-30 loss to Virginia at qualifiers likely emphasizes the hard limits of their ceiling against the top squads.


University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Record: 8-5
Record vs. D1 Field: 0-3
Best Win: vs. Michigan State, 165-100, March 8, 2025
Worst Loss: vs. Blue Jay QC, 165-100, Nov. 16, 2024

The Illini program has shown consistent growth in recent years, a testament to its strong leadership, and will bring one of the largest rosters in the field to nationals. Ojas Turekar and Veronica Hoffman form a formidable top beater pair capable of hanging with the best beaters in the field, and Marcos Sandoval is a quadball game star in the making. Close losses to Mizzou and Blue Jay QC show the teams potential, but, ultimately, Illini has not managed to record a win against the Division One field nor stay within 180 points of Creighton in two attempts. Landing in, by far, the tougher of the two pools does not make things easier either. Expect Illini to give the mid-tier teams in the field some tough games, but anything more may be too big of an ask.







Archives by Month:




Archives by Subject: