Racquetball club dominant in region; preparing for nationals

The Penn State racquetball club very quietly dominated the regional tournament of the Eastern Collegiate Racquetball Conference, held Feb. 21-23 at West Point Military Academy.

Despite being virtually unfollowed by the Penn State community, the club has steadily improved over the years. Now after taking first at regionals in both the men's and women's divisions, as well as taking first as an overall team, the club has assumed the role of best team in this part of the nation.

It now moves on to the national tournament, held April 2-6 in Boise, Idaho.

Both the men's and women's squads will send their top six players to Boise. Competing for the men, in order of rank, are Doug Shreiner, Dan Piscotty, Brian Stone, Paul Petruzzi, Vince La Cross and Ryan Dexter. The women's team consists of T.J. Baumbaugh, Michelle Zellers, Wendy Williams, Sabrina Landis, Annemarie Faso and Rosemary Dahlberg.

Although the club is ahead of any school in the East, it hopes to take its dominance one step further in Boise. Last year the women's squad took second nationally, while the men finished 12th, giving Penn State a sixth-place finish overall. This year's team, however, is expected to finish even higher.

"The girls have a good shot of winning it," said Shreiner, also the club president. "Last year they took second, and we only took five girls."

This year the women will have a full complement of six players. With its performance at regionals coupled with its performance last year, Shreiner believes the squad should receive a high seed.

The biggest juggernauts lying in the women's path appear to be Brigham Young, North Texas and Memphis. BYU has won the tournament three consecutive years and is expected to be the toughest of the three schools.

"We've got a good chance," Baumbaugh, the top player for the women, said of her team. "BYU's always really tough. I think we've got a good chance coming back."

Shreiner also seems confident the women can bring home the national title. He thinks they are a much better group than the one that finished second last year, pointing to the amount of experience on the team.

Of the six women only two, Landis and Faso, will be making their first trips to nationals, and Baumbaugh and Zellers each will be making their third. He also said Dahlberg, ranked sixth on this year's team, was last year's No. 4 player.

Despite taking first at regionals, the men's team has a larger hill to climb to reach the national crown. Shreiner said competition at nationals will be much tougher than what the men saw at regionals. However, he does see his team finishing higher than last year.

"We were 12th last year," he said, "and I have a feeling that we'll be in the top six this year."

While racquetball is a club sport at Penn State, most schools that aren't in the Eastern Collegiate Racquetball Conference, such as BYU, have made it a varsity sport. This means those teams have paid coaches and scholarship players and receive University funding.

While this obviously puts Penn State's club at a disadvantage, Shreiner believes there are a few advantages to merely being a club.

"What I find fascinating is that our players are regular students, while at schools like BYU and Memphis they are scholarship players," he said. "The reason that I think we are so successful is because we don't face the pressure that (scholarship players) do. (Penn State players) are basically allowed to do whatever they want. We go and encourage each other. It's a less-stressful environment."

However, Shreiner said it would be nice if the club were elevated to varsity status. He pointed out it receives $1,000 from the University for going to nationals, hardly enough to cover travel expenses. In order to function, members run a racquetball marathon at the Intramural Building once a year and sell merchandise at home football games.

Although the Penn State racquetball club is loaded with talent, Shreiner wants people to know it is open to anyone. Beginners are encouraged to join just as much as advanced players.

"I don't want people to think that we're all professionals here because we aren't," he said. "There are a lot of people here playing at beginner and basic intermediate."

Since it isn't a varsity team, members of the club basically walk on. While many of the more successful members have been experienced players, there have been some interesting "success stories."

Freshman Annemarie Faso is one such story. Although she has been a life-long tennis player, she had never tried racquetball until last semester, when she took a class in it. Wanting to try something new, she continued to learn and joined the club this semester. She already has become the women's No. 5 player.

"It's a competitive sport," she said, "but it is fun when we're here (practicing), and that's what keeps me here. I really enjoy it a lot."

Although still learning the sport, Faso qualified for nationals. While this might scare many developing players, she looks at it from a different perspective.

"I look at it like I have nothing to lose," she said. "I just want to go out there and do the best I can, never quit no matter what. And always have fun of course."