College Finals

Daily Site Reports & Final Results

Hundreds of top collegiate racquetball players took a second spring break when they trekked to sunny Tempe, Arizona, for the 2000 E-Force 28th World Intercollegiate Championships, April 5-9. And 90-degree temperatures only set the stage in Tempe, where the Arizona Athletic Club and L.A. Fitness saw plenty of heated action on the courts.

A Happy Group of Medalists & Trophy-Winners!

The men’s No.1 singles division began to heat up in the quarterfinals, with the early exit of top-seeded Aaron Granberg, of Minnesota, at the hand of Arizona State’s Luis Munoz, a former-Mexican National Team member. Munoz had retired from racquetball three years ago, then returned to the sport only three months prior to the event after hearing that the intercollegiates would be held in Tempe. “The only reason I’m playing in this tournament is because it is being held in Tempe,” Munoz said. “This is a huge comeback for me.”

The quarterfinals also gave U.S. Junior National Team-members Josh Tucker and Shane Vanderson fierce competition, as they fought for a chance to advance to the semifinals side-by-side on the main exhibition courts, which share a common glass sidewall.

Tucker, representing Missouri Southern State, took on California-Riverside’s Chris Crowther in a three-game battle. After dropping the first game to Crowther, 15-13, Tucker rebounded to take the second 15-9, but was unable to hold on in the tiebreaker, losing to Crowther 11-9. “The difference in the tiebreaker was whomever made the fewer amount of mistakes,” a disappointed Tucker commented. “He got some key shots that I didn’t make.”

Baldwin Wallace’s Vanderson (shown at right) was pitted against Southern Colorado’s Erin Brannigan in their quarterfinal match. Brannigan, filling the shoes of ‘99 champion Luis Bustillos for the Thunderwolves, lost the first game, 15-9, but quickly bounced back for a 15-7 win in the second to force a tiebreaker. But Southern Colorado’s hope for back-to-back champions was dashed as Vanderson put away the match with an 11-7 win.

While Vanderson credited the support of his Baldwin Wallace teammates with his win, Brannigan felt the pressure of his team on his shoulders. “I don’t like to think about [filling Bustillos’ shoes], but it’s a big deal,” Brannigan said following his loss. “It’s tough going to USC, because you have other players on your shoulders. I feel like I put a lot of the pressure of my team on myself, and it was evident [in my play].”

In the fourth quarterfinal match-up, Memphis’ Javier Moreno continued to roll through the draw by defeating Chihuahua’s Oviedo Baca, 15-8,15-2.

Semifinal Scare ... After exchanging wins in the first two games, the heated semifinal match between Munoz and Vanderson took a frightening turn on the first rally of the tiebreaker when Vanderson dove head first into the back wall, injuring his neck. After laying motionless for several minutes while staff on hand attended to him, Vanderson finally sat up and then walked off the court to the loud applause of onlookers. He continued to ice his neck off the court and then proclaimed that he wanted to finish the match.

Vanderson returned to the court to rattle off seven unanswered points to earn a lead that carried him to the 11-3 victory. “I don’t know why the injury [didn’t affect my game]. Maybe it woke me up,” a joking Vanderson said following the match. “Maybe I needed a little hit in the head.”

After the excitement of the first semifinal, the second match-up between Moreno and Crowther was a bit of a letdown. Although a strong Crowther managed to put up more points than anyone before him had done, he was unable to upset the Mexican National Team member, dropping the match 15-12, 15-6.

A Little Pressure ... Both Vanderson and Moreno entered the finals carrying heavy emotional baggage along with the weight of their teams on their shoulders. After the loss of his grandmother last Christmas, Vanderson was playing his heart out for her and his teammates. Moreno was facing a final chance of winning the top singles title, plus the opportunity to end Memphis’ 10-year title dry spell.

Both players came out blasting in the first game and , after exchanging the lead several times, Moreno managed to put it away, 15-14. “Shane was playing very good,” Moreno said. “I kept telling myself ‘it’s ok… it will come’ when he was beating me.” And it did come to Moreno in the second game, with his 15-7 game win for the match, and gold medal.

On the verge of reclaiming their long-lost Men's Team title, University of Memphis coach Larry Liles (far left) and former intercollegiate champion ('84, '85, '87) Andy Roberts give some tips to Moreno.

“Last year I knew I could have won it, but I lost 15-14, 15-14 to Nacho [Bustillos]. So, I cried and prayed for this year,” an overwhelmed Moreno said. “I told Caesar [Carrillo] last year that I could have won it, but this year I had to win it. I trained very hard for this, and everything was been so perfect this year. This tournament was meant for me.”

Ladies Up ... In the women’s race for the No.1 singles title, the action didn’t begin to simmer until the top-four seeds met up in the semifinals. There, another Mexican National Team member, Susana Acosta, faced off against hometown-favorite Rhonda Rajsich. Acosta had breezed into the semifinals, with her previous two opponents only scoring a total of six points against her. But Rajsich gave her a run for her money, but still came up short of the win, losing 15-10, 15-11.

In the other semi-final, Southern Colorado’s Johanna Shattuck took the court against U.S. Junior National Team-member Brooke Crawford. After falling behind early in the first game, Crawford was sparked by what she felt had been a bad call, then rallied back for the 15-5 win. “I got mad about that bad call, and I guess that’s what I needed to wake up and start playing,” she said.

Crawford (shown at right) repeated her slow start in the second, letting down a bit as she dropped it to Shattuck 15-14. “I was tired in the second game,” Crawford said. “But she really took me out of my game, too. She was hitting a lot more angles and a lot of lob serves … [it] took me a while to adjust to that slower game style.” A quick study, Crawford had fully adjusted by the tiebreaker, as she handed Shattuck the shutout, 11-0, to advance to the finals.

Despite returning to the faster-paced game she is more accustomed to against Acosta, Crawford could not hold off the strong Mexican player, losing in the finals, 15-13, 15-11.

The gold medal was the second one of the day for Acosta, who had picked up the No.1 doubles title with Dina Garcia for the University of Chihuahua earlier, over Southern Colorado’s Shattuck and Branda Toloumu. Moreno also ended up with two gold medals, winning the men’s No.1 doubles with Caesar Carrillo over another pair of Thunderwolves, Brannigan and Willie Tilton.

Phoenix-native Rhonda Rajsich returned home to seek a title at the E-Force 28th World Intercollegiate Championships, after nine months of training and court practice. But it hadn't been on a racquetball court; it was a basketball court!

Rajsich is a guard for the Stephen F. Austin State University women's basketball team. Only weeks prior, she'd been competing in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament against the best collegiate women's basketball players in the country. The Ladyjacks made it to the second round of the tourney, finishing the season with a 28-4 record and a Southland Conference title to their credit.

Rajsich transferred to Stephen F. Austin State after playing two years at Phoenix College, and was pleased with her first season in Division I basketball.

"At the beginning of the season, as a team we wrote out goals," Rajsich said. "And we achieved every goal except making it to the Final Four."

With her intense basketball schedule, she'd had little time for racquetball. Switching gears, she allowed herself a short break to recover from the basketball season.

"As soon as we got home [from the NCAA tournament], I think I took a day or two rest, and I have been playing everyday since."

But Rajsich does not mind jumping from one sport to the other. "It's almost a relief to be back into racquetball. After nine months of basketball, its great to say that I'm going to hit the court and know there is going to be four walls and a little blue ball instead of a big orange one. It's just refreshing."