A month removed from the dog days of summer, the most anticipated time of the year has arrived for Marquette students. This is the time when tension heightens, pressure builds and gamesmanship comes to the forefront. Of course, I speak of the intramural fall playoffs.

The postseason exists as the place where heroes are made, bragging rights are won and friendship hangs in the balance. The goal dangling in front of these once-a-week athletes is a fairly plain t-shirt.

"We want the shirt," said Makenzie Carr, the captain of Kabam, the 4-0 team atop the co-ed volleyball "B" league standings. "We've had somewhat successful teams in the past but always lost in the playoffs. This year we're confident, but not overconfident."

I can only imagine Carr does not cross the line into cockiness because of my team, the Dominators. Though 0-4, our play improved week in and week out in September.

Coming off a bye week, the Dominators will field an injury-free squad hungry for its first win. Concerning our team's name, the regular season standings indicate somewhat of a different story. The Dominated would seem more appropriate, but our record does not show one factor — heart.

Never having donned one of these intramural champion shirts, the experience stands as the largest void in my collegiate career. Winless in September, we turned the calendar page and a corner and expect a run in the October postseason.

The Dominators won the first game in the season opener against Hirocheema, which finished with an impressive 3-1 mark.

"We'd like the t-shirt," said captain and manager Brittany Price. "We're going to play the way we did during the regular season. You can't have a strategy in intramurals because it's so scrappy."

Changing a letter here and a word there, a similar thought popped into my head relating to the Dominators. My team also wants the t-shirt, but cannot afford to play the way we did in the regular season. We didn't have a strategy in intramurals because we were so crappy.

However, the Dominators bank on one unexpected tactic: the element of surprise. Opponents see our record and, once they stop laughing, believe they will mow us down like a blade of grass. The 0-4 mark appears demoralizing, but like objects in a side mirror, the matches were closer than they appear.

An overall team seriousness will also resonate come playoff time. If I flirt with the referee in the postseason, it will be to get a questionable call later in the match rather than a date. When hearing

"19-12," I will ponder how to storm back from seven points down rather than recall Woodrow Wilson's election victory.

All these factors skew the seedings for the playoff bracket. We might as well start our playoff charge with an upset over the undefeated team, and everything should sail smoothly from there. Expecting the championship, my closet awaits my new wardrobe. Try as I might, I still cannot reckon a situation in which the Dominators do not live up to their billing.