The slapping sound of paddles echoed in Swig Gym the night of Feb. 5, with students participating in the intramural kickoff pickleball tournament. Marking the fourth time this event has been held, the tournament has been used as a kickoff event to commence a new semester of intramural sports.
Teams consisted of groups of two, with each team playing three regular season matches to determine seeding, and then moving into elimination rounds. Participants consisted of recreational players to tennis players to people who have never competed in pickleball competition before.
It was first-year business analytics major Kitty Vo’s first time playing in a pickleball match, although she has played the sport before. “My parents enjoy pickleball so they influenced me to join the tournament,” she said. “It was great, I got to mingle with friends, and also make some new connections through the tournament.”
Jonathan Nnanta, a first-year data science major and a more seasoned player, said, “I enjoy playing pickleball. I like to play a lot when I’m at home, so while I’m at school, I was trying to find a way to practice. So it’s a good way to connect with some pickleballers. [There will] definitely be more games happening in the future.”
The championship game, which was decided by the first team to reach 11 points, was won by a team of law students, Nika Zupancic and Sam Braun.
“Just being able to compete and play in this tournament, for me, this experience was a way to get to know people better through some healthy competition, and we just happened to sneak out a win,” Braun said. “You know, we feel blessed. We had great fans. It was really just fun.”
The sophomore law student said that they mostly play tennis, but there’s some similarities between the two sports.
“They’re both racket sports, the main difference is there’s not as much spin in pickleball, as far as your stroke. Everything’s a little bit, I don’t want to say slower, faster pace at the net, [but] a lot less running,” Braun said.
