Archive for February, 2022

69th USHA National Collegiate Championships

Congrats to all of our team champions this past weekend. View all of the title winners below:

Combined Open Division:

  • Champion: Minnesota State Mankato
  • Runner-up: Missouri State University

Men’s Open Division: 

  • Champion: Minnesota State Mankato
  • Runner-up: Lake Forest College

Women’s Open Division: 

  • Champion: Missouri State University
  • Runner-up: Minnesota State Mankato

Combined A Division:

  • Champion: Texas A&M University
  • Runner-up: Utah State University

Men’s A Division:

  • Champion: Utah State University
  • Runner-up: Pacific University

Women’s A Division:

  • Champion: Utah State University
  • Runner-up: Texas A&M University

Men’s B Division:

  • Champion: Angelo State University
  • Runner-up: Texas A&M University

Bracket winners can be viewed below.

Men’s Singles

Open

Open 9-16

A1

A2

A3

B1

B2

B3

Men’s Doubles

Open

A

B

Women’s Singles

Open

Open 9-16

A1

A2

B1

Women’s Doubles

Open

A


SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Saturday and Sunday were full of hard-fought and thrilling matches that brought out the incredible atmosphere that can only be found at the collegiates: Players playing their hearts out, and their teammates roaring them on. 

The first men’s open semifinal saw David Walsh defeat reigning champion Shane Dunne in impressive fashion. Walsh overwhelmed Dunne with his power and precise pass shots taking the match 21-15, 21-12. 

The second semifinal was between Minnesota State’s Ray Ure and Dublin’s Diarmuid Mulkerrins. Mulkerrins was on fire to begin the match, taking game one 21-8. Ure grinded out the second game to edge Mulkerrins 21-19. The tiebreaker saw Mulkerrins regain the form he had in the first game, and defeat Ure 11-5 to go to the finals.

The finals was a rematch from the 2020 national collegiates where Walsh and Mulkerrins met in the semifinals with Mulkerrins defeating Walsh in a tight tiebreaker. This was just as exciting. 

Walsh caught fire in the first game and easily defeated Mulkerrins 21-4. Mulkerrins came out a completely different player the second game and won a lopsided game himself, 21-5. The tiebreaker was full of incredible rallies with diving retrievals and flat kills. Mulkerrins had a 10-9 lead and earned a back-wall set-up that skipped inches from the wall. Walsh came in and hit a left hand rollout followed by a lob serve that stuck on the wall that forced a Mulkerrins hand error that gave him the 11-10 victory. 

Fiona Tully continued her impressive Collegiate career by winning another open title on the women’s side of the bracket.

Tully faced off with Aoife Holden in the first women’s semifinal and cruised to a 21-3, 21-5 victory. Waiting for her in the final would be Ulster University’s Mairead Fox who was making her collegiate debut. 

Fox was impressive in her semifinal win over Holly Hynes, but was overmatched by the experience and all around game of Tully. Tully hit lasers down the right side and followed them up with winning kill shots and pass shots that never allowed Fox to get in her groove. Tully took the title 21-7, 21-5. 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Friday’s matches produced more competitive contests with the winners advancing to Saturday’s semifinals.

The final match of the day produced some of the most excitement. In the Men’s Open quarterfinals, Ray Ure (Minnesota State, Mankato) defeated Conor Walsh (Munster Technological University), 21-16, 18-21, 11-8.  Ure mixed in smooth pass shots to take game one  21-16 and was cruising towards a victory in the second game. But Walsh had other plans, sharpening his shots with pinpoint accuracy, many landing just beyond Ure’s reach. Walsh kept the pressure on Ure with unanswered scoring runs until clinched game two 21-18 to force a tiebreaker decider.

In the tiebreaker, a red hot Walsh jumped to an 8-2 lead before Ure began turning the match into his favor. But soon an ensuing rally, Walsh crumpled to the floor with an apparent injury to his left leg, causing him to use nearly 11 minutes of his injury timeout before returning. Able to get back on the court, Walsh was clearly hobbled during some moments. But Ure continued his comeback, hitting crack serves followed by amazing kills which fired up the Mankato fan base in the gallery and fueled him to the semifinal.

The main exhibition court matches are featured and streamed on two separate links on the USHA YouTube Channel. Look for LIVE streaming at top of the channel page.

Follow results by clicking on each division below.

Men’s Singles

Open

Open 9-16

A1

A2

A3

B1

B2

B3

Men’s Doubles

Open

A

B

Women’s Singles

Open

Open 9-16

A1

A2

B1

Women’s Doubles

Open

A

See the preliminary brackets (how final brackets were formed) click HERE.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Day two brought the preliminary rounds to an end, creating the final 16 person brackets for both men and women. The first round will be played Friday morning while the quarterfinals will be play Friday Night.

—————————————————————————-

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Day one kicked off at Thomas H. Burnett Handball courts with women’s doubles and men’s singles. All schools were in action and there were great matches throughout the day!

The men began their singles while the women played the opening round of their doubles. It was great to see the return of collegiate handball. The women will begin their first round of singles Thursday morning and finish up in the afternoon. The men will also finish up their preliminary round this afternoon and bracket play will start Friday.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Missouri State University Handball Club welcomes collegiate handball athletes from around the country and from overseas this week for the 69th USHA National Collegiate Championships.

After nearly a two-year hiatus, Collegiate Handball officially kicks off again this Wednesday at 2 p.m. (Central) at the Dr. Thomas H. Burnett Handball Courts in Missouri State University Plaster Sports Complex.

See below to see the tentative start times for all singles players and doubles teams. Please note that these start times are tentative and may change up to Wednesday afternoon.

The main exhibition court matches will be featured and streamed on the USHA YouTube Channel beginning Friday afternoon.

Brackets and results will be posted here and will be updated every 2-3 hours, starting Wednesday (Feb. 23) afternoon.s

Houston R48 Pro & State Doubles

HOUSTON — Finals Sunday featured the R48 and WR48 finals, as well as the R48 and WR48 playoffs, as the Race 4 Eight’s stars battled for Race 4 Eight gold and valuable ranking points.

Complete WPH tournament report and coverage HERE.
All images and content courtesy of WPH.

Men’s R48Pro Final: Carroll vs. NashFinal: Carroll vs. Nash

Killian Carroll entered Sunday’s Houston final riding a five-tournament Race 4 Eight win streak and seeking his nineteenth Race 4 Eight final. Diarmaid Nash entered his second Race 4 Eight final in search of his first R48 title against his junior and Irish Senior rival. “I suppose in Ireland I was sick of playing Killian because we met in every tournament but we haven’t played much since so I’m looking forward to playing him,” stated Nash. Killian is a dog and gives it 120%, so I hope to play my best ever match and come out on top.”

Killian Carroll picked up where he left off on Saturday, dominating the action en route to a seven-minute, 15-1 first game win. Nash changed his approach in game two, slowing the game down with a lob serve and changing the momentum of the match. “This is what Diarmaid always does against me, he plays me,” stated Carroll after the match. “I was used to playing the ball low and hard and he slowed the game down and I made a lot of errors and he waited for his opportunities and took advantage.”

The tiebreaker started with six consecutive side outs, as neither player was able to seize the momentum. With the score tied at seven, Carroll switched to his right-handed serve for the first time in the match and rediscovered the game that carried him to the first game lead. “I’m chasing Catriona now,” stated Carroll after his nineteenth R48 title. “She has 21 and I’m just trying to keep up with her.”

Final: Carroll d. Nash, 15-1, 11-15, 15-7.

Playoffs

5th place playoff: Esser vs. Canales

Sam Esser and Leo Canales continued their rivalry in the fifth place final, with Esser taking their last encounter in the fifth place playoffs at the R48 January Classic. Canales led 19-14 and 22-18 but Esser found his back wall kill, scoring the final seven points of the match to take fifth place for the second consecutive event. “Leo and Killian are the two fastest guys on the tour, so it’s not easy to put the ball down,” stated Esser. “I feel like I was skipping my back wall shots by an inch early in the match, but I found my kills just in time.”

Final: Esser def Canales 25-22

9th place playoff: Ruiz vs. Montijo

Tucson rivals played a classic ninth place final, with Ruiz racing to a 14-2 lead before narrowly leading at the half, 15-14. “When Shorty is playing like that there’s not much anyone can do,” stated Montijo. “I just tried to grind and stay in.” Montijo changed his serve throughout the match, alternating between 2-Wall lobs, underhand lobs, power serves, and 2-Wall power serves to change the momentum. “Those slow serves just kill my momentum,” Ruiz would later say. Montijo forged ahead in the second half and just crossed the finish line with both players exhausted. “Winning ninth place is a big deal and I’m proud of myself,” stated Montijo. “Shorty made three dives in the last rally and there were not many easy points.”

Final: Montijo def Ruiz 25-23

R48 Finishes

1st: Carroll

2nd: Nash

3rd: Fink/Lucho

5th: Esser

6th: Canales, Jr.

7th: Langmack/Danos

9th: Montijo

10th: Ruiz

WR48

Final: Casey vs. Tully

Catriona Casey entered Sunday’s WR48 Houston final seeking her twenty-first WR48 title in her twenty-third WR48 start, while Fiona Tully was appearing in her first WR48 final in her third season on the tour.

Catriona blitzed Tully in game one, needing just five minutes to take the lead. Fiona started to demonstrate her immense talent in game two, playing close with Catriona in the first several rallies in game two. Casey pulled away, changing her serves and implementing the all-around game that has made her unstoppable since the inception of the tour. “I got here early, skipped rope, and threw the ball around, so even though I was nervous and my legs felt heavy, I got off to a good start,” stated Casey. “I knew Fiona would start to play better in the second and she did. I made adjustments, just as she did, and I’m thrilled to win the title.”

Final: Casey d. Tully, 15-1, 15-4.

JR WPH Clinic

JR WPH was proud to host a junior handball clinic during the 2022 Houston Race 4 Eight, teaching several youngsters how to properly swing, rally, and have fun on the court. “We have really missed having the opportunity to get kids on the court during our hiatus, and it was wonderful to see all of the smiling faces enjoying the game,” stated WPH Development Director David Fink.

Thank you

Thank you to the Houston Handball Club, the Tellepsen Family YMCA, Ron Cole, Chuck Reeve, Sandy Gaitz, Jim Krepper, and the WPH staff and broadcast crew for an outstanding event in H Town.

Follow all of the brackets from the 2022 Houston Race 4 Eight HERE

David Fink
WPH Senior Writer

Handball Prices – Effective March 15, 2022

The USHA Board of Directors has voted to increase the price of handballs effective March 15, 2022.  This price increase is the result of substantial material and shipping cost escalations absorbed over the past year and in the upcoming months. 

Effective March 15, 2022, Red and White 21 Handballs will be:

$10/can
$8/can (USHA Members) 

Effective March 15, 2022, ONE Handballs will be:

$13.75/can
$11/can (USHA Members)

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Virtual Referee Clinic Wednesday hosted by Tom Sove

Tom Sove will be leading a virtual referee clinic this Wednesday at 7:30 pm Central Time via Zoom. Attending the clinic will make you a certified level one referee (pending membership) and any questions you have can be answered. Don’t miss your chance to better understand the rules of this great game! Click HERE to request the link to the Zoom meeting.