By MASON B. NIEDERHAUSER
mason@du2.byu.edu
The BYU men's and women's racquetball team is hoping to reclaim the title of national champion this week as it begins play in the United States Intercollegiate Racquetball Championship at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.
Although the Cougars finished a disappointing second place in last year's tournament, they have consistently dominated the court, winning the championship in 1995, '96 and '97.
Despite the experience of competing on a national level, no one on the Cougar squad is taking this opportunity lightly -- especially BYU's No. 1 seed Brian Gill.
'When you open a racquetball magazine, you see pictures of the guys I'll be playing,' Gill said. 'They are ranked in the top ten in the nation. I just want to shake their hands.'
Regardless of the reputation many of the nationally ranked players carry with them into the court, they will have to beat a Cougar bunch that does not lack confidence.
'My theory is that if they are a little better than me, I'll beat them,' Gill said. 'If they are a lot better than I am, hopefully my style of play will throw them off enough that I can still beat them.'
Although BYU does not have a nationally ranked player, the team is just that -- a team. With more depth than any other squad competing, the Cougars will have to rely on their four through six seeds to earn enough points to carry them through.
BYU's No. 6 seed, Ron Scoville, understands this.
'Most of the other teams' six seeds are weak compared to their first seed,' Scoville said. 'But it will still be the best competition I've had this year.'
The title of national champion is awarded to the team with the best combined men's and women's score. Historically, it has been the dominance of the women's team that has pulled the Cougars through to first place. And this year looks like it will be no different.
'There is always pressure when you are at the top,' said the women's No. 1 seed Valorie Woodbury. 'But we have a very strong team with very real talent.'
Even more impressive than BYU's strong play in the national tournament is the fact that the Cougars will not compete on the final day of competition, because it is held on Sunday. Last year, BYU forfeited a number of matches scheduled to play on Sunday when competitors refused to accommodate BYU's requests to hold the final matches on Saturday night.
Merrill Dibble, BYU's No. 5 seed, fell victim to one such competitor in last year's tournament.
'I explained my situation to him, and asked if he would be willing to play me Saturday night, but he said he wanted to go to dinner with the other players instead,' Dibble said.
As a result, Dibble forfeited the championship match, and was forced to take second place.
'I think we were both in a difficult situation,' he said. 'Of course, I think it only would've been fair to play Saturday instead. But, he made his decision not to play me. I'm not sure how he feels, but if it were me, I wouldn't feel real good about winning the championship knowing that I didn't beat every player in my division.'