As the semester comes to an end, both volleyball and basketball intramural seasons have wrapped up. Around 60 teams in both sports have competed against each other in the playoffs, leading up to the championship.

Volleyball

Grit was a common theme on the night of Dec. 3, as intramural volleyball championship contenders took their talents to the Kris Russell Volleyball Arena, hoping to hoist the beloved championship shirt.

Electric play was eminent from the start, with That’s What She Set and ShBonk going back-and-forth early in the first set. Eventually, That’s What She Set pulled away, and also took the second set en route to a C-bracket championship.

The team, led by captain Braxton Kurth, began the season 0-4 and won only one set. Six straight wins later, and they took C-bracket royalty.

“We played all through the regular season with five players,” Kurth said. “Then we picked up two for the playoffs, so that kind of helped us a lot.”

Kurth, who is a junior at UW-W, has won an intramural championship once for every year he has been at the university. Now he sets his focus to a fourth title.

“I know what this feels like,” Kurth said. “It’s always nice to have that feeling. It’s awesome. I love collecting the shirts.”

The B-bracket championship carried the same fortitude from the previous game. Similarly to their regular season matchup, Kwik Trip and Blocked Like My Ex found themselves in a tie going into the third set. Kwik Trip captain and senior Kaleb Montano looked to repeat how that earlier match went: in a three-set victory.

Once teammate Lucas Rinderle took the server spot, it was “wraps,” as Montano described it. Kwik Trip went on a 14-point run to take down their opponent 15-2 in the set, and 2-1 in the match.

“He made me look good, giving me over passes,” Montano said. “We just went on a good momentum run. He kind of carried a little bit. But all of our players played really well, representing the men’s club volleyball team for the B bracket.”

Somehow, with the fight showcased in the first two championship bouts, the A-bracket championship showed possibly the most grit of the night.

The odds were stacked against Big Dumpers. They had lost to their opponent, Hits Don’t Lie, in the regular season. They only had five players, being short of the six typically on the court. They dropped the first set in tight fashion.

Yet nobody gave up. Despite being outnumbered, Big Dumpers coasted to a second-set victory before narrowly taking set three in a 15-13 win. 

“It’s definitely some adversity to battle through, kind of a disadvantage,” captain Cole Harp said. “Putting people in the right positions, having a game plan where we were going to cover in the back row.”

Harp’s team came A-bracket runners-up in the two previous intramural volleyball seasons, and their battle capped off a night of excitement and glory.

“It’s finally good to get over the hump,” Harp said.

Basketball

While volleyball’s championship encompassed the theme of grit, the basketball championships on the night of Dec. 4 demonstrated significant resilience throughout the championships.

Throughout the Mens 6’ and Under game, Short Kings and the 7 Dwarfs were consistently neck and neck, hitting halftime with Short Kings at 24 points and 7 Dwarfs with 23 points. As the game neared the end, the 7 Dwarfs were able to pick up a lead, taking the win 57-45.

Before the championship, Short Kings quickly built up a pile of victories with only one loss, humbling them.

“I feel like every team that ends up on top has to face adversity at some point. It humbles you,” Short Kings captain Braedon Vollmer said. “It shows you that you’re not on top of the world. Sometimes you gotta take a step back to take a step forward. 

In previous years of the intramural championships, Vollmer and his team have been victorious multiple times.

“It’s always super fun to see everybody’s faces on the team,” Vollmer said. “We all work super hard for this throughout the season, so it’s always nice to celebrate at the end. “

Unlike the previous game, where the teams were neck-and-neck throughout the game, one team, Mitch and Them, quickly took the lead in the co-rec game. Although in the latter half, The Last Ride quickly caught up, they were not quick enough with Mitch and Them winning 71-69.

In the regular season, Mitch and Them struggled early on, losing their first game terribly. Afterward, things clicked with the team, helping them reach the playoffs and ultimately win the championship.

“We’re all such good friends, same friend group, for the most part, so we all just hear each other out, no matter what, no hard feelings,” Mitch and Them captain Emily VanRiper said.

Out of all the games, the one between the Green Machines and Middy Magicians showcased the most resilience of the night on both teams.

Throughout the entire men’s match, the two teams were stuck in a stalemate. When one team scores, so does the other, keeping their scores tied. Even after a notorious slam dunk from Middy Magicians, their lead quickly faded away.

By the end of the game, the two teams had scored 47, causing them to go into overtime. However, the extra three minutes weren’t enough to break the tie as both teams now had 54 points. In the one-minute overtime, Green Machines was able to finally break the long-standing tie, ending the game with 58 points compared to Middy Magicians’ 57.

“We got a lot of 50-50 balls and made some big shots at the end of the game, especially overtime,” Green Machines captain Griffin Stiemke said.

Despite this being an intramural championship, that doesn’t mean that the teams don’t put all they’ve got into these games. With a mix of the competitiveness of playing against other teams and the enjoyment of playing with your friends, the championships are able to get tough games like the ones this early December.

“We try to put on a good show because we play in the varsity facilities with the varsity setup with the officials in a varsity-like atmosphere; we step our game up a little bit,” Rec Sports Assistant Director Matt Schneider said. “Overall, championship nights for us are important, and it’s a great way for the students to channel what they did or what they grew up being accustomed to [regarding sports].”