Joey Harvey is a junior majoring in communication. He can be contacted at [email protected].And it all comes down to this.
Who would have thought, after composing a tournament pitting eight top Bulldog athletes in a tournament to determine the fan favorite, that two of the biggest underdogs would make it to the championship match?
I certainly didn’t, but it is what it is, and it’s time to determine who is the overall Top Dawg at MSU.
These two women have used their large fan bases to their advantage in this contest, and we’ll get to see whose is bigger this week.
Remember, there’s no guarantee that your favorite athlete will win, especially if you don’t vote.
It’s possible for you to vote more than once and to get your friends to vote. Hundreds of votes have been submitted for each match so far, so don’t expect any less from the championship match.
Let’s let the Top Dawgs brawl!
No. 3 Chelsea Bramlett
Softball
Sophomore
Cordova, Tenn.
Catcher
The youngest athlete in the tournament, Bramlett is facing her third senior in the tournament and looks to take her down just like the rest.
In Round 1, Bramlett had a surging come-from-behind victory over men’s basketball’s Charles Rhodes on the final day of voting.
She then advanced to the second round, where she overcame baseball hurler Justin Pigott to land herself in the finals.
Age is obviously not a factor for Bramlett, as by now, you probably know about the success she has had on the diamond so far as a freshman and sophomore.
No. 8 Eva Kriegel
Volleyball
Senior
Jaszbereny, Hungary
Setter
The younger of the Hungarian volleyball sisters of yesteryear, Eva Kriegel has had little to no problem in this tournament to this point.
Kriegel dominated in each of her two matches leading up to this one.
In the first round, No. 8 Kriegel surprisingly sent tournament-favorite Jamont Gordon home, setting the tone for an underdog-victory-filled contest.
Kriegel then had no problem taking the victory from football’s Derek Pegues in round two.
Kriegel’s fan base has perhaps been the most impressive and surprising of the tournament, but she’ll need those votes to keep rolling in if she plans to beat the softball sophomore.
On the court this season, Kriegel has been the anchor of the five-senior class of the volleyball roster, leading the team to a successful second half of the season so far.