Three weekends ago, Oregon State University's Racquetball Club placed second out of 32 teams at the 2018 National Intercollegiate Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Every team member received All-American status.  

Hayden Anderson, the president of the club, describes the sport as one of the fasted-paced games in existence. "It's relatively simple," he says, "but the ball travels at more than 170 miles per hour." Pair that with the small room racquetball is played in, and there's potential for injury. "I've definitely been hit before," Anderson says.

Racquetball is played in a similar fashion to tennis: there are doubles and singles, and different divisions based on skill. 12 men and women received All-American status. In order to receive this status, every "singles" player needed to reach the semi-finals, and every "doubles" team needed to reach the finals.

OSU's Racquetball Club has a history of excellence: for the past ten years, they have placed first in every intercollegiate national championship. 

Hayden Anderson

Anderson chalks this success up to the youth racquetball programs of Oregon. "We have great junior racquetball programs here," he says. "It's quite possible Oregon just has better racquetball players because of that. We consistently have some of the best players." 

Dixon Recreation Center currently houses six racquetball courts, and on some days, the Racquetball Club can be found practicing here. 

 

Owen Sutter
New Media Journalist