It’s 8 p.m. on a Wednesday night, the lights are dim near Solano Hall and it’s a chilly 55 degrees outdoors. It’s nearly silent outside except for a faint “whacking” sound coming from a white building by the gym. The sound comes from the dilapidated racquetball courts. Here, in the rundown building without heat, the recreational racquetball team meets to practice a sport it cares so much about.

The club’s president, junior mechanical engineering major Josh Martinez, said the school’s racquetball courts used to be state-of-the-art in the ’70s.

“Modern courts now have wood floors and the walls aren’t made out of concrete,” he said.

Sac State’s racquetball courts used to be outdoors, but they were walled in years ago. The cement floors are yellow and show years of wear, and there are holes along the bottom of some of the concrete walls.

“That’s why we could never host a tournament here,” Martinez said as he pointed at a chunk of concrete missing along the back wall.

There is a walkway along the top of the courts so spectators can watch the game without getting hit by the rubber ball that bounces off the walls, like a sonic-speed game of pong. The game itself is intense; think of it as a tennis match with opponents on the same side of the net, and the net is actually a set of walls.

Sac State belongs to the Western Collegiate Racquetball Conference and is considered to have one of the top men’s teams on the West Coast.

Martinez placed third in the Men’s Division A National Intercollegiate Racquetball Tournament and is now a sponsored member of Team Head USA.

David Santos is a criminal justice major. He recently transferred to Sac State and heard about the racquetball team.

“I found out about (the racquetball team) and have been playing ever since,” Santos said.

The team has their first tournament this weekend in San Jose. Martinez and Sue Sublaban, the club’s treasurer and top women’s player, will be leading the team to the tournament. Martinez is hoping to bring home the team’s first WCRC Tournament trophy.

Sublaban came in fourth last year at the Women’s Division 1 Collegiate Nationals. She is one of two girls on the team.

The club will have another tournament in February at UC Davis and another tournament in March at UC Berkeley.

Martinez talked about the benefits of playing racquetball. “It’s a great way to release energy, have some fun and get a good workout,” he said.

“Even if you don’t know how to play, you use a whole lot of muscles you’re not used to using,” Martinez said.

Santos agreed with Martinez about racquetball being a good workout. He thought that the best part about playing racquetball was that it wasn’t an exclusive sport.

The club has a total of eight members but only about six active members. The players encourage more people to come out and try the sport.

Amy Lewis can be reached at [email protected]