CMU Pickleball Plays Inaugural Game at RMU

This past Saturday, April 22, the Carnegie Mellon Pickleball club journeyed to Robert Morris University to play their very first game against another school's competitive pickleball team.

CMU Pickleball’s competitive team consisted of Dominick Robinson (President), Chris Alexopoulos (Vice President), Gabriel Prado (Treasurer), Vatsalya Verma (Risk Management Officer), SeongWuk Jeong (Pickle), Tristan Ohler, Claire Marlowe, Gillian Croteau, Arya Shah, and Alexa Carl.

The two teams played a total of 34 one-game matches, including nine singles and 25 doubles matches, across three hours; teams earned one point for a singles win and two points for a doubles win. Some noteworthy victories by CMU Pickleball include: Arya and Claire d. Trey and Bella 11-7; Gabe and Dom d. Ryan Y. and Andy 11-7; Vatsalya d. Trevor 11-9; Vatsalya and Alexa d. Matt and Bella 12-10; Tristan and Vatsalya d. Hunter and Riley 11-4; Dom and Chris d. Trey and Ryan Y. 11-9; Alexa d. Bella 11-0; Gabe and Tristan d. Aaron and Andy 12-10; Gabe d. Matt 11-1. The day ended in a dramatic battle between team captains, with Dominick bringing home the victory for Carnegie Mellon against Trey, 11-5.

Some close but impressive defeats include: Trey and Andy d. Dom and Tristan 11-9; Aaron d. Chris 11-8; Cole and Ryan B. d. Alexa and Gillian 11-6; Alex and Riley d. Gabe and Arya 11-9.

Although Carnegie Mellon Pickleball lost 16-43 to RMU, this rookie team consisted mostly of players who had never played pickleball before this semester, yet they fought hard and improved throughout the day against their more experienced RMU competitors. Carnegie Mellon Pickleball expects to rematch RMU in the fall.

If you are interested in playing casual and/or competitive pickleball, you can find and join Carnegie Mellon Pickleball on TartanConnect and join their Discord. You can also find highlights from some of these matches and much more on their YouTube channel.

YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@cmu_pickleball
Discord: https://discord.gg/v5z8G3tJuN
TartanConnect: https://tartanconnect.cmu.edu/CMUPB/club_signup