70th USHA National Collegiate Championships

Sam Esser February 20, 2023 Featured, Games & Tournaments

Dunne sets up on a shot at the 2023 USHA Collegiate Nationals[/caption]

TUCSON, Ariz. –The 2023 USHA Collegiate Nationals wrapped up Sunday morning with Minnesota State’s Shane Dunne and University of Limerick’s Niamh Heffernan claiming the open titles. Each player played phenomenal all weekend, especially in their final matches.

Dunne matched up with Diarmuid Mulkerrins who was in the final for the third year in a row. Dunne and Mulkerrins played even in the beginning of game one, but Dunne was able to pull away late to win 21-13. The second game Dunne raced out to a 15-0 lead over Mulkerrins, and despite a late push, Dunne maintained his lead and won 21-3, 21-10.

Dunne fought through a brutal draw to win his title. Before defeating the number one seeded Mulkerrins in the final, he defeated three seed Conor Walsh in the quarterfinals, and two seed Ray Ure in the semifinals. Dunne is in tremendous shape, and has great hands. His consistency and his commitment to playing percentage handball made the difference for him this week.

You can watch a replay of the men’s final on our YouTube Channel HERE.

Dunne teamed with teammate Mark Doyle to win the men’s open doubles division.

Heffernan sets up on a shot at the 2023 USHA Collegiate Nationals

Niamh Heffernan was very strong in her run through the women’s open division. She didn’t lose a single game along the way, and saved her best match for last in her final against Minnesota State’s Clodagh Munroe. The highly anticipated finals match was dominated by Heffernan from the beginning. Heffernan is a steady player who rarely makes a mistake. She generates tremendous power on the ball that bothered her opponents all weekend. Munroe is a special player herself, but she didn’t have the answer for Heffernan’s game today.

Heffernan teamed with Limerick teammate Sinead Meagher to win the Women’s Open doubles division.

For the second year in a row, the Minnesota State Mavericks won the open team title. Their men’s team took first place while their women’s team took second.

The Missouri State Bears finished second in the team title race. Their men took third place while their women took first place.

The 2023 National Collegiate Team Champions: Minnesota State University

Final Standings (points scored)
Combined Open Division Team Champions:
1. Minnesota State University, Mankato (4,485)
2. Missouri State University (4,332)
3. University of Texas-Austin (4,192)
4. Lake Forest College (3,216)

Men’s Open Division Team Champions:
1. Minnesota State University, Mankato (2,305)
2. Lake Forest College (2,144)
3. Missouri State University (2,128)
4. University of Texas-Austin (2,076)
5. Pima Community College (1,064)

Women’s Open Division Team Champions:
1. Missouri State University (2,204)
2. Minnesota State University, Mankato (2,180)
3. University of Texas-Austin (2,116)
4. University of Arizona (1,132)
5. Lake Forest College (1,072)

Combined A Division Team Champions:
1. Utah State University (2,532)
2. Pacific University (2,320)
3. Texas A&M University (2,096)
4. Stony Brook University (1,900)
5. Angelo State University (1,864)

Men’s A Division Team Champions:
1. University of Milwaukee (1,620)
2. Stony Brook University (1,244)
3. Texas A&M University (1,024)

Women’s A Division Team Champions:
1. Texas A&M University (1,072)
2. Pacific University (1,060)
3. Angelo State University (1,004)
4. Utah State University (720)
5. Stony Brook University (660)

Men’s B Division Team Champions:
1. Utah State University (1,812)
2. Pacific University (1,264)
3. Colorado School of Mines (912)
4. Angelo State University (860)

Thanks to all the coaches, players, and volunteers who made this tournament a great success. We look forward to the 2024 USHA National Collegiate Championships at the University of Minnesota.  

You can view all the brackets and preliminary rounds on Bracket Ace HERE

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TUCSON, Ariz. –Preliminary match play continued on Thursday with many of the competitors playing into their final divisions for team scoring purposes.

If you’re unfamiliar with the USHA National Collegiate format, each participant plays two preliminary “seeding” matches to best match their skill set with other players. With their initial ranking and these two matches, they are placed in a final single elimination round of 16 division. The further they advance in that division, the more points they score for their team.

Final divisions are set and begin Friday morning, and that usually brings a full day of competitive handball and exciting close finishes. Follow along at BracketAce.com HERE.

The Tucson Racquet Club, University of Arizona Handball Club, and the USHA welcomes collegiate handball athletes from around the country and from overseas for the 70th USHA National Collegiate Championships.

The tournament officially kicked off Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m. (Mountain) at the Tucson Racquet Club.

See below to see the tentative start times for all singles players and doubles teams. Please note that these start times are tentative and may change up to Wednesday afternoon.

Brackets, times and recent results available on Bracket Ace HERE

Host Venue: Tucson Racquet Club – 4001 N Country Club Rd, Tucson, AZ 85716. There is plenty of parking at the club. When you walk in, you will continue to walk until you go outside and see the pool. The courts are in the building directly to the right of the pool when you walk out. The Tucson Racquet Club does not provide towels, and there are limited lockers available for a price, so please plan accordingly if you’d like to shower in their locker rooms. 
 
Coaches Meeting: The coaches meeting will be held on site at the Tucson Racquet Club at either the upstairs or downstairs restaurant. The first coaches meeting will take place Wednesday at 12:00pm and the second meeting will take place Saturday around 2:00 pm. Please do your best to be in attendance. If you are unable to make the meeting and are a head coach, please ask us about the coaching stipend. 
 
Tournament meals: Hospitality and Lunches will be served for players and coaches. We will have small items for breakfast in the morning. We are also providing $20 in vouchers for food. These may be used any time from Wednesday to Saturday in the upstairs restaurant.  In addition to the voucher, the food schedule is the following:
Wednesday: 5:00pm
Thursday & Friday: 1:00pm
Saturday: 11:00am
 
Players bags and equipment: We will have tents set up for players to leave their bags and equipment in at the Racquet Club. We do not want the bags laying in the lobby or hallway by the courts as there is not much room. 
 
Court availability before the tournament: The courts are reserved Tuesday night from 5:00pm to 7:00pm for the Tucson Handball league. If you are in early, you may go to the club and practice, but please stay off the courts during those times.  
 
Banquet: The banquet will be held at Bear Down Gym on the University of Arizona. A map is attached to this email and we will have printed copies at the tournament. The gym is about a 10-minute drive from the courts. The banquet will begin around 6:00 Saturday night. 
 
Bracket Ace- Remind your players to download Bracket Ace and Ace Referee before the tournament and make a Bracket Ace account. We will have QR codes that lead to the apps at the tournament if they need to download them and make an account there. 
 
Hope in Handball Youth Program- A reminder that a youth handball program in Pennsylvania is hoping to collect collegiate handball shirts from teams across the country. They will give the shirts to their youth players. If you or your players have any shirts you’re willing to donate, please bring them to the tournament and give them to Matt or I. 

The main exhibition court matches will be featured and streamed on the USHA YouTube Channel.

Brackets and results will be posted here and will be updated every 2-3 hours, starting on Wednesday afternoon. Follow along on our website for daily updates. 

Please have your players download the apps called Bracket Ace and Ace Referee. (QR codes are below that will take you straight to the app store to download.) We will also have QR codes at the tournament for players to use. See the message below with more information on the benefits of the apps. 

The 70th USHA National Collegiate Championships will be using Bracket Ace tournament software to enhance this year’s tournament experience. Participants are strongly encouraged to download the Bracket Ace app along with its companion scoring app Ace Referee before the tournament begins. The Bracket Ace app allows for real-time bracket updates, following players (iOS® only) and links to video. The Ace Referee app lets you referee a match by scanning a QR code, and it shows live scores for all ongoing matches so you can see the score on every court no matter where you’re at!

 

 

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