Christie Van Hees has some confidence after winning the World Championships this summer in Bolivia. She has obviously been hunkering down and working on the game a bit, and is sporting a "new and improved" bod and drive serve. Does she have what it takes to make the Wall of Fame? Right now, we don't know, and we can't be sure she wants it all that bad. In the sixteens it was just another day at the office for Levine in her victory over Mindy Hartstein. Hartstein is certainly improving, but it's hard to keep up with the energetic Levine. Lydia Hammock advanced over another up-and-comer, Phyllis Morris, in three straight, handing her a doughnut in the first game. Ouch. Lorraine Galloway defeated Sandy Kubany, in a routine three, as did Molly O'Brien over Bev Supanik, who is also into the fitness thing and has whipped herself into great shape as of late. Michelle Wiragh escaped with a narrow victory over Janet Myers in five games, while Cheryl Gudinas ousted hometown hopeful Angela Burth in three. In the quarters, Gudinas cruised past Wiragh in three. While some were betting on the experience of O'Brien to hold off Van Hees, it was not to be. Christie rolled by in three straight, and all Molly could do was chuckle about it afterwards. Galloway forfeited to Hammock, advancing Pebbles into the first semi-final appearance of her career. Levine and Paraiso faced off in a matchup which will, no doubt, continue to be thrilling in the future. They split the first four games evenly before Paraiso pulled ahead to win the fifth and advance her into the semis against Hammock. In that semi, Jackie looked tough and Lydia just tried to hang. In actuality the match was much closer than the
RACQUETBAlL
~PR file low scores indicated, with plenty of sideouts and some serious shot-making from the corduroy queen. But Paraiso and her experience proved to be too much to handle, as she seemed to float around the court to put the ball away with relative ease.
On the other half, Van Hees came out strong early, and capitalized on her opportunities. For some unknown reason, Gudinas' normal passing style was abandoned in favor of a new splat and pinch game which, time and again, found Van Hees waiting in the center court to put the ball away. Gudinas snuck in a victory in the first game, but failed to take advantage of her opportunities in the next three games, falling to Van Hees in four. Van hees vs. Paraiso ... hmmm ... Jackie's earlier play made her the obvious choice to take a win at the season opener. Confidently forecasting that she "Yas in Baltimore fully intending to take over the number one spot in Gould's absence, it appeared that she wanted it badly. But we all know the "underdog" story. Van Hees played as if she had nothing to lose, and the longer the match went on, the more heat Paraiso seemed to feel. But, down 0-6 in the tiebreaker, the momentum changed just a bit. Experience again becoming a factor, Paraiso battled back to a much smaller 7-8 deficit. Could Van Hees stay strong? Girl, you know it's true! Van Hees kept on course to win her first pro stop, 11-9. Congrats!
1997-98 WIRT Awards Announced By vote of the top sixteen Women's International Racquetball Tour players, the WIRT selected annual awards for its top tour players. Five awards were voted upon; Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, a Sportsmanship Award, Rookie of the Year, and the Steding Cup for outstanding contributions to women's racquetball in the past year. The award winning players will be honored at the banquet during the first event of the new season in Annapolis and each will receive a commemorative plaque. The winners were: Player of the Year: Michelle Gould Most Improved Player: Marci Drexler Sportsmanship Award: Lorraine Galloway Rookie of the Year: Mindy Hartstein Steding Cup: Molly O'Brien
january- February 1999