CECILIA ENGBERT
STAFF WRITER
The Prodigal Sons’ Return and Stella Mariae households were the champions at Franciscan University of Steubenville’s annual household dodgeball tournament in the Finnegan Fieldhouse Sunday at 7 p.m.
The packed fieldhouse roared as over 45 men’s and women’s households gathered to compete. Booming music set the tone for the evening, blasting the spectators’ eardrums but keeping the mood alive.
Many people who were not members of households also took part in the evening’s contest, participating with their own teams or joining one of the household teams.
The fieldhouse was split in half, with men and women playing on separate sides. Each side was further divided in half so that four games took place at a time. In order to win a match, teams had to win two out of three rounds.
Several of the TOR friars competed in the men’s household tournament, attracting many enthusiastic spectators.
The fieldhouse gradually emptied as teams were eliminated. But the noise did not recede as the remaining contesters kept up the hype.
Over two hours after the tournament began, finalists finally emerged. The men finished about 30 minutes before the women and awaited their final match until the women caught up.
The final contestants for the men were the Prodigal Sons’ Return and In His Image (IHI) households. The match was fierce and lasted the full three rounds as IHI won the first round and the Prodigals the second. The final round saw only one IHI member facing down four Prodigals, who finally took the evening when they were all able to shoot at him simultaneously.
Stella Mariae household faced off against the Daughters of Divine Mercy (DDM) household in the finals for the women. The first round was won by DDM but Stella Mariae won the next two rounds, winning their second year in a row.
The victors walked away with steaks as their prizes.
Although her household did not make it past their first round, sophomore Rose Pham said she had a great experience gathering in sisterhood and brotherhood.
“It’s really fruitful to bond and just have fun with each other,” she said. “It’s just very childlike. I love it!”
Freshman Collette Joyce said that her favorite part was watching the friars play and seeing everyone having honest, wholesome fun.
“We’re all cheering for each other and it’s really awesome,” she said. “We’re households, which are like spiritual bonding, but now we’re physically bonding.”