Round out your college experience with roundnet

On the outskirts of campus lies the grass fields near Yellowstone Hall. Here, the roundnet club can often be found practicing and creating new memories.

Roundnet — more commonly known by the brand name “Spikeball” — got its big breakthrough after airing on an episode of Shark Tank back in 2015, according to spikeball.com. The sport gained further popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, which eventually led to the founding of the roundnet club at MSU in the summer of 2021.

Club President and junior Cole Matas had plenty of memories of the team over the years.

“Last year for fall, we went down to Utah, played a tournament that day and then later that night we got two Airbnbs and went to a ‘Cats game that was in Ogden. It was just a fun night. Playing Spikeball [all] day, going to the Airbnb, having fun and then going to the frickin’ football game back-to-back was just one of the best memories I have of the club,” Matas said.

What the team got up to in the Airbnbs stuck out in sophomore Dannah Novick’s mind as well.

“I went down to Idaho Falls last spring for a tournament. It was just super fun. We stayed in an Airbnb all as a team and got up to all kinds of stuff — shenanigans,” Novick said.

The spirit of the team is further brought out during practices. On Sept. 19, Matas wore Swedish Fish socks to practice and everyone on the team pointed them out, and mentioned how funny and cool they were.

Since freshman John Raine is new to the team, there’s a lot of new memories to be experienced for him. “It’s awesome. We are going into our first tournaments here and I am getting really excited for it,” Raine said.

Additionally, Matas said that tournaments have allowed the team to focus on representing Montana as they travel out of state.

“Every year, there’s a tournament in Rexburg. Most of the time it is like an Idaho run or a Utah run tournament, but the past two years we have had more Montanans represented at that tournament. It is just a good community friend group that is a lot of fun,” Matas said.

In addition to having plenty of energy for shenanigans, the club also puts the hours in on the field to prepare for their competitions. After all, getting ready for tournaments requires a lot of practice.

According to junior Drew Dickey, the first few minutes of practice consists of rudimental work. This can be anything from working on serving by yourself or passing with a partner. From there, most of practice is spent playing games and scrimmaging.

“I’ve always had a lot of fun playing Spikeball and this is the place to do it with other like-minded people. [It’s] very positive and fun,” Dickey said.

These practices create a competitive environment that members like freshman Kellan McClintock thrive off of. According to McClintock, competitive play is really fun especially when you get a really close game going on where everyone is trying their hardest to win.

The roundnet club has engrained memories of a lifetime for both new and returning members.

The club’s Instagram page, @msubozeman.roundnet, keeps the public updated with the team’s various shenanigans.

“We literally just want people to come out and have fun. We are a club sport, but it’s pretty chill,” Matas said.