Sophomore Kayley Frenette heard the crowd roar as she chucked the ball with all her might. It left her hands and flew towards the lone Arden Village player on the other side of the court. If she hit him, North Village would win the annual homecoming dodgeball tournament for the first time in a decade. 

Nine teams competed in the tournament: one from each Bethel University residence hall and one team of commuters. Arden Village (AV) and North Village were the last dorms standing at the end of the double-elimination tournament. The crowd cheered in anticipation of the potential final match. If AV won, they’d have to play a repeat of the semi-final. But if North won, it would be the end of the tournament. 

“We ate apples in preparation for the tournament,” North Village Resident Assistant Zoe Vang said. 

North also had several baseball players on their team, which Vang was hoping would help them make a comeback.

Coming into the competition, North Village seemed unlikely to win – they were the ninth seed out of nine. They played Lissner first, surprising the competition by crushing them in under two minutes. Then they beat Edgren, the first seed. Next, they played the commuters, the team who had won not just dodgeball, but the entire homecoming competition in 2023. Then North took on Nelson, and a victory there took the team through to the finals. With four back-to-back wins, their fans didn’t think they could lose. 

“The boys were buzzin’,” senior North resident Zeke Fahs said. 

Fahs was a leader in the ranks of the avid North Village crowd. He called the atmosphere “completely electric.” AV and North fans shouted back and forth at each other as the final game progressed, cheering on their team and booing the other. North began by knocking out two AV players. AV then equalized. The game was brought down to 6 vs. 6. From there, North took complete control and gave themselves a 5 vs. 1 advantage. After that, the game was as good as won.

The ball struck AV junior Austin Woolf on the left side of his torso and the crowd erupted. Frenette was swarmed by her teammates and overcome with emotion as everyone started chanting “North! North! North!” 

“This feels amazing,” Frenette said. “I love working with my team. It was one of the best things ever the way that we all came together.” 

As the crowd dispersed, the fans and players streamed into the parking lot, blaring “We are the Champions” by Queen.