Racquetball club participates in national collegiate tourney

Landon Olson

This week, the Utah State Racquetball club team is participating in the National Collegiate Tournament in Las Vegas.

Five players left for Las Vegas for the four-day tournament Tuesday and will begin play today. Play will continue through Saturday.

All five Aggies will participate in singles, and two doubles teams will also play. Players are guaranteed to play at least three singles matches. Players are separated into three brackets based on the results of their matches.

To qualify for the national tournament, the team must make an appearance at the regional tournament. Seedings for the national tournament are based on play at regionals. USU took second at regionals this year. This is the first trip to the tournaments for three-year club member Chad Earl.

“Nationals will be a fun experience,” he said. “Not only will we be able to learn a lot from other players, but we will be able to compete with schools across the nation.”

Earl said he’ll be playing in singles and No. 2 doubles. Along with Earl, No. 1 player Richard Soto is in Las Vegas, as well as three other Utah State players.