The Saginaw Valley Paintball Club team’s success has soared to new heights as it has shot to the top of the national rankings. The team is currently ranked fourth in the nation, putting it in position to enter the Division A National Collegiate Paintball Association (NCPA) National Championship.

“This has been the best year in the club’s history,” team leader senior Eric Madill said. “Our confidence has only continued to grow as we have gotten better.”

Experience has proven to be a major factor for a squad that returned all of its members from last year.

“Several of us played more over last summer and we all have been practicing every weekend,” Madill added.

The team kicked off its season with a strong secondplace finish, and improved in their next to claim their first victory of the year. Another second place and a third place capped their season, ranking the team among the best in the nation.

“Experience has been the biggest factor for us,” Madill explained. “We are not nervous when we play big teams anymore, and are confident in each other and our abilities.”

Standing out this year for the team has been graduate student Joey Wisniewski. Wisniewski has helped guid the team for several years now. Madill added that he has guided the team all year and has been the anchor for them.

Also having a big year for the club has been junior Loren Adams. Adams took some time off from the sport to focus on other things, but more recently came back to the game that he loves and has greatly contributed.

This year’s success has led the SV Paintball Club to opt to play in the highest division of the NCPA National Championship among some of the top teams in the country, including Penn State, Texas A&M, Army and Navy.

Taking this step has also provided the team the opportunity to prove to everyone what it can do. Participating in the Division A Championship means that the team will be receiving national coverage as the matches are streamed live online. It’s the first time the SVSU community has been able to watch the team play live.

“We really want to get our name out more to the SVSU community and have them see what we do,” Madill said. “We want to be able to have the same recognition as the other major club teams, and this is a great chance for us.”

The tournament will kick off  Friday, April 17, in Lakeland, Florida, where the team will play three preliminary matches with the single game elimination matches beginning on Saturday.

“Our goal is to prove to the paintball community that SVSU can compete with all of the other big schools and succeed,” Madill said.