Welcome to the Maverick Handball blog. As our first post, I’m going to recap the major achievements for the last season.
Collegiate Nationals
Maverick Men’s Club Handball Team Wins National Title,
Women’s Team Finishes Second at
Nationals
Mavericks combine for second-place overall men’s/women’s finish
Mankato, Minn. – The Minnesota State
University, Mankato men’s club handball team won its first-ever open division
national title, and the Maverick women’s handball team finished second
nationally at the 67th
annual United States Handball Association’s National Collegiate Handball
Championships, held Feb. 20-25 in Minneapolis.
The men’s team beat the University of Texas by a score of 2,148-2,118 to win the national title.
The top six players score towards the team score. Tyler Stoffel, Michael Gaulton, Adrian Anderson, Clay Edwards, Sam Ure and Matt Johnson scored for the Maverick men’s team. Stoffel and Gaulton earned All-American honors.
The Maverick women’s team finished runner-up to Missouri State University by a score of 2,287-2,232. Scoring for the Maverick women’s team were: Ciana Ni Churraoin, Carina Aguilar, Kendra Kaupa, Maddie Kennedy, Courtney Sill and Crystal Theobald. Ni Churraoin and Aguilar earned All-American honors.
In the combined championship, the Mavericks finished runner-up to Missouri State by a score of 4,382-4,380, a one-match difference, in the closest score in the history of the event.
Individually, several Mavericks placed in their divisions:
- Ni Churraoin won the women’s open singles over Dublin City University’s Fiona Tully 21-5, 21-16.
- Ni Churraoin and Aguilar won the women’s open doubles over Dublin City University’s Tully and M Ni Dhalaig 21-15, 15-21, 11-6.
- Stoffel finished runner-up in the men’s open singles losing to University College Dublin’s Galen Riordan 18-21, 21-8, 11-3.
- Theobald finished runner-up in the women’s A2 singles losing to University of Alberta’s Erin Lovie, 21-5, 16-21, 11-4.
- Matt Johnson and Andrew Unick finished runner-up in the men’s B doubles losing to Stony Brook University’s Yang and Han, 21-5, 21-7.
The tournament was held at the University of Minnesota’s Recreation and Wellness Center.
Women’s Pro Tour
Ciana Ni Churraoin finished runner-up at both women’s pro tour stops this season. She also finished runner-up at the USHA National four wall handball tournament in open singles. She was the women’s open division doubles champion at the USHA nationals when she partnered with Fiona Tully.
Men’s Pro Tour
The Maverick’s Tyler Stoffel qualified for a spot in the men’s pro tournament and lost to #6 ranked pro, Emmett Peixoto by a score of 15-3, 15-8. Qualifying for the pro tournament is very difficult. Tyler played great to qualify. He finished 11th in the pro tournament.