CLEVELAND — Baldwin Wallace University is making a name for itself in the racquetball world. Some students have even chosen to attend the small northeast Ohio college because of the team.

What You Need To Know

  • Baldwin Wallace University, a D3 school, competes in D1 racquetball

  • Julia Stein is a member of the team and holds national and world title credits

  • Stein said she choose to attend BW so she could compete on the racquetball team

Julia Stein said she loves the sound a racquetball makes when it hits the wall. She said she finds it exhilarating. 

“The burst of like adrenaline like whenever you hit an ace serve or a really good shot, it’s just like palpable,” Stein said.

Stein holds world and national titles and plays on the Baldwin Wallace racquetball team. The school is a D3 university, but the racquetball team competes against D1 schools.

“I actually only applied to one school, Baldwin Wallace, because I knew I wanted to come here. I didn’t even know really what I wanted to major in or anything. I just kind of decided,” she said.

The top-ranked player said she knew about the school’s program because her older brother, Thomas Carter, graduated from BW in 2017 and played on the racquetball team. He is now a professional racquetball player and is ranked 17th globally.

“BW is one of the only schools that kind of values it as a sport. It’s really like integrated into the campus. Actually, whenever I got here, people would hear that I am on the racquetball team and say, ‘Oh my gosh, aren’t you a D1 athlete?’” she said.

Stein is a senior and double major in biology and public health. She said her sport has taken her around the world for competitions.

“Being in such an extremely overly competitive environment has been my happy place, cause I just love competing,” she said.

 Racquetball coach Ady Hawthorne said it has been a joy to have an elite player like Stein on the team.

“She came here. We knew she was going to be an all-star player. She’s been tremendous in doubles in the national and world junior sense. She’s won, I think, junior national doubles at least one year if not more and has done very well in singles too,” Hawthorne said.

Stein said she hopes to continue playing the sport competitively even after she graduates in May. 

“As I get older and things come and go, I realize that racquetball is something I can kind of rely on,” she said.