Texas Roundnet

2021 TASR Majors Preview: Round Rock

2021 Round Rock Ultra Major

by Fredric Hinkle

This Major will be featuring the option to play lips!
A serve that would not have cleared the shoulder
Cannot be called a lip on Saturday’s event. 
We are playing pro pools, RESULTS all morning!


Gold

Hit Ball Hard - Matthew Burrows and Caleb Cummings -WySpike & Baylor

Burrows coming off of a week of memeing it up with Ethan may be in the spirit to compete this week. Caleb put up a great podium last week and should be drastically empowered by this newly implemented rule. T-5


PROUDFATHERS- David Louis and Brian Childs - WySpike and Space City

Oh gosh, I have no idea what to expect. Question 1, can they hit under serve pressure? Question 2, will David set consistently under serve pressure? Question 3, what will their defense look like? These guys have played together with some great 3rd place results in the past and I expect them to stay consistent. 3rd


Cathartic Peacock - Grayson Wills and Kyle Walsh - UT and A&M

This team hasn’t played together in a good while. Kyle has improved greatly since then. This team will be in trouble on serve receive. Their serve receive has never been rock solid and with lips in play, this team might get torn up. They will have to really find a serving groove if they’re going to have success. T-5


In N Out - Dylan Keen and Chase Meyer - A&M and Baylor

“My serve is a micro lip every time” - Chase Meyer. Well, Chase, that is suddenly very convenient. I have a good feeling about this team. I think Dylan can serve receive well and set very well to help out Chase with his serve receives. If Chase can keep his sets on the left side of the net this team will be in great shape.  4th


No More Mr. Nice Guys - Matt Cole and Josh Weinbach - Baylor and UT

Matt Cole is downright gross at some lipball. He really crushes the ball and suddenly his left hand could be devastating. Josh also has a really lip-heavy left hand. I think with Josh’s defense and Matt’s butter they could piece together a great result! 2nd


Under/Overrated - Andrew Chinese New Years and AJ Hutchinson - Trinity and Baylor 

This team is in a tough spot. Andrew is a solid server and a strong serve receiver. AJ is a resolute server and both really hustle on defense. I think this team will play great together and really pressure some offenses. Despite this, I just don’t see them competing with some of the high octane teams at the top. However, with Pro Format Pool Play, they’ll have an opportunity to book a big win. T-5


Double Clutch - Fredric Hinkle and Rahul Murthy- Texas A&M 

Coming off of a stunning loss in ATX these two will look to regain some confidence. This team is the best in every facet of the game and should destroy the field. Anything less than a win would be a massive disappointment. 1st

Author Predictions

  1. Double Clutch

  2. No More Mr. Nice Guys

  3. PROUDFATHERS

  4. In N Out

Advanced

The top 2 teams in the Advanced Division will earn a Gold qualification for future majors!

Author Predictions

  1. Mr. Brick and Dax OHair

  2. Pocket Aces

  3. Craaaacked

  4. Gin and Juice

P.S. go Craaaacked





2021 TASR Majors Preview: Waco

2020 Waco (Kileen) TASR Major

by Fredric Hinkle

This is the first Major in 4 months. This is a clean slate. 

Many players have been honing their game for months,

While others have travelled and found national success.

Gold

Quick as Frick - Luke Marshall and Blake Henke -Texas A&M

Luke and Blake will have to put serves on. They will surely be moving fast; in order for that to be useful they need to keep the serve percentage up. Blake and Luke will make TOUCHES the only question will be setting and hitting competency.  3rd


lukrightbal - Ethan McWhirter and Matthew Burrows - Texas and WySpike

This tournament comes after each of these players fell 2 spots on the T100. While both are crowd favorites it’s likely their result will just be, “Ok”. I’m not really sure how intensely these two will be playing. T-9


WySpike Crossbearers - Nic Noguez and Luke Mowry - WySpike

Will the meltdown happen in the RO16 or Finals? They are such good players, they just need to work together and play as a team. Keeping their spirits up will be an enormous battle for these two. If they put serves on we know they will play solid defense. I think the mental aspect will be key. T-5


Play-Doh - Brian Childs and Colton Mowry - Space City & WySpike

Colton and Brian have some weird results. Colton’s generated by his extremely inconsistent serve and Brian’s generated by his inconsistent serve receive. I anticipate a lot of defense as both excel here. Colton is likely the best off net setter in NHZ while Brian is sneaky good at out of system hitting. If either are on it will be a great day!  2nd


Nolan Ryan - Caleb Cummings and Matt Cole - Baylor

Historically the most successful Baylor players in Texas. This team has wowed us many times with their synergistic play and they will try to do it again on home soil. They are both long guys and have adjusted quickly to hitting with the NHZ. They have translated their game well. The question will be setting; Matt leads partners to succeed as hitters and Caleb will have to follow suit for them to go deep this tourney. T-5


Chicken Tenders - Fredric Hinkle and Noah Beinart - Texas A&M and Bellaire

It’s been 8 months since these two got 2nd in the Gold League. Noah is playing his first tournament with the NHZ and it will be interesting to see how he adjusts as a player. This team will be the strongest setting team in the field. If they find touches it’ll be game over for the others. 1st


Unexpected Toxicity - Chase Meyer and Seth Searcy - Baylor and Texas

Chase is coming off of a historic climb up the TT100 and Seth is looking to prove himself as a complete NHZ player. Seth played with Jack Granger in Gold in the stacked ATX event with mixed results while Chase returns off of his best finish yet. T-5


Filthy Casuals - Andrew 4th of July and Grayson Wills - Trinity and Texas 

Andrew has exploded up the TT100 on this list. He’s a solid player and he just gets results. Grayson seems to do everything right, he just doesn’t have the results that he’s looking for. Maybe this is the combo to get the job done. They’ll have a very specific job this time as Andrew’s archnemesis could line up against him later in the day, and I think we’re all rooting for Andrew to defeat Dax.  T-9


Riot - Rahul Murthy and Dax O’Hair - A&M and Baylor

Rahul is magic and has carried the most obtrusive of players through tournaments before. This time he’s playing with the human backpack. Dax has experience in the carry department as with Grant he beat the Worst(Rahul and Garrett). This team could lose in the quarters or win it all! 4th


Its Jager Time - Grant Laughlin and Dylan Keen - A&M 

Dylan has played excellently with NHZ and has shown he still has a few mistakes in his game. I think he will have a great platform to create breaks playing with Grant. All Grant needs to do is hold and hit some bangers. If they both do their part, I see a terrific result. T-5

Author Predictions

  1. Chicken Tenders

  2. Play-Doh

  3. Quick as Frick

  4. Riot


Advanced

The top 2 teams in the Advanced Division will earn a Gold qualification for future majors!

Author Predictions

  1. Maroon and Green

  2. Mr. Brick and Nathan Wright

  3. Jabez

  4. Atrocious




Spikeball and Roundnet… What’s the Difference?

Roundnet is the sport popularized by Spikeball inc. You may have heard of it referred to as Spikeball, but that is merely the brand who makes the product on which roundnet is played! Check out their information at Spikeball.com!