Members of the Oregon Racquetball Club kicked off the new year at the annual Mike Griffith Memorial Tournament Jan. 19-22 at Courtsports Athletic Club in Eugene. The Ducks posted winning results in the large amateur tournament in all types of competition, including a win in a mixed doubles category.
The club will continue on the Oregon amateur circuit this winter before embarking on the collegiate season in the spring.
Five Ducks made the journey across town to the Griffith tournament, one of eight events sponsored by the Oregon Racquetball Association, joining hundreds of other athletes from across the West Coast. With 32 divisions of competition in the tournament, there was ample opportunity for everyone involved to play plenty of racquetball.
All of the entrants appeared in at least two categories. The categories ranged in size from as few as three entrants to the largest group: the men’s “A” singles division, which saw 32 hopefuls sign up.
University students Ted Haley and Darioush Afshar were included in this draw that featured a double-elimination bracket format. The matches consisted of games played to 15 points. If the opponents split the first two games, a third game was played until one player reached a score of 11. Both Haley and Afshar exited the main bracket in the first round.
Haley was bounced by the eventual winner of the event, but recovered in the consolation portion of the competition. He marched through four matches to capture the consolation title. Afshar advanced to the quarterfinal stage of the consolation bracket before he was defeated by the third overall seed in the draw.
Haley then joined fellow student Lindsey Baptiste in the 16-team mixed doubles event. Their first two matches required the tiebreaker game to determine a winner, but in the semifinal and final matches, Baptiste and Haley rolled to relatively easy victories by the scores of 15-5, 15-14 and 15-12, 15-3, respectively to claim the championship.
Baptiste also entered in the women’s “A” singles, beginning the draw as the No. 1 seed. She moved into the semifinals, only to be edged in a close two-game match. Baptiste dominated the third-place playoff 15-8, 15-5.
Afshar and Haley teamed up to enter the men’s “A” doubles category. The duo advanced to the semifinals before losing to the top-seeded team in the draw. However, they prevailed in a tough three-game match to secure a third-place finish.
“At the end, if you’re not sore, you’re not playing right,” Afshar said.
Club member Rachel Peterson and Dan Goettsch met Baptiste and Haley in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles draw after both teams had a first-round bye.
Peterson and her non-member partner then reeled off three straight wins to gain the victory in the consolation bracket. Meghan Donnithorne also made a contribution to the team’s success by making it into the consolation semifinals in the women’s “B” singles division.
The Oregon Racquetball Club is in the midst of a revival after being refounded two years ago. The club now boasts approximately 20 members and a full schedule. The Ducks will compete in up to three more amateur tournaments before facing collegiate competition at large tournaments throughout the spring season, when they will look to build on past success.
“There’s a lot of support within the team,” Afshar said. “That’s the type of group we have.”