Oakland University calendars biggest Spikeball tournament, campus groups team up

Oakland University gave Spikeball a bigger stage Sunday, June 7, 2026, as the Roundnet Club teamed up with Student Congress and SHPE for what the school billed as its biggest tournament yet. The event mattered because it pushed roundnet beyond the usual club circle and into a broader student-life spotlight, the kind of setup that can change who shows up and who starts playing.

That partnership was the point. A sport-specific club joining with two campus-wide organizations turned the tournament into something aimed at both established players and students who know Spikeball mostly as a casual backyard game. By placing the event on Oakland’s official calendar, the university gave it visibility that a normal flyer or group chat post could not match, which is exactly how niche sports start reaching new pockets of campus.

The tournament also fit a larger rise for OU Roundnet. The club formed in 2020, when Alex Doty and Jon Herppich got friends together and began officially playing by September, and it quickly grew to about 20 players after three weeks of official action. Since then, the club has kept stacking milestones. In 2025, Oakland staged what it called its largest Spikeball tournament ever, with Lance Markowitz, the club’s treasurer, spending the summer organizing it while the executive board worked with OUSC and SHPE to build support and prizes.

Markowitz’s push last year underscored how much the sport has grown at Oakland. The club contacted more than 200 companies for sponsorships and prizes, a sign that the event had moved well past a simple pickup-style gathering and into a serious campus production. That kind of scale matters in roundnet, where tournaments often double as recruiting tools and competitive showcases at the same time.

The growth has continued into this year. In February, OU Roundnet said it was at its largest size ever, with 14 players scheduled for sectionals and 24 students showing up for a recent indoor session at the Recreation Center. The club’s progress fits into a much larger Oakland ecosystem, where club sports include more than 500 athletes across more than 20 student-run organizations and the university supports more than 250 student organizations overall.

That is why this tournament stands out beyond the bracket. Oakland did not treat roundnet as a side activity, but as a campus event worth building with Student Congress and SHPE, a model that gives Spikeball a better chance to keep expanding on campus long after this tournament ended.