As any volleyball player will tell you, one of the most important characteristics of a solid player is a solid head. Being able to cope with the pressure, weather the swings and remain emotionally stable in a tight game all comes with experience. But for first-year Rachel Shober, remaining calm in important situations is already second nature. Earning a consistent spot in the regular rotation, Shober has impressed her coaches and teammates with her ability to remain focused under pressure.

In the 1970s and early 80s, Borleske Stadium near Highway 12 was the place to go in southeastern Washington for your summer baseball fix. Some of the best college players from across the country, including future Hall of Famers,Ozzie Smith and Tony Gwynn all cracked home runs over the imposing “Green Monster" of Douglas firs that dot the outside of the field.

The men's tennis team recently completed an arduous two weeks of competition against teams from all over the nation. For the first week, the team traveled to Portland, Ore. to compete in conference matches. The second week, they flew to South Carolina to compete against schools on the East Coast. “The trip was pretty intense," said first-year Adriel Borshansky. “It was a pretty solid two weeks of matches." The tennis team played well throughout the break, winning 11 out of 13 conference matches, and five out of seven matches on the east coast. Many Whitman players were recognized for their outstanding performances: Senior Justin Hayashi was named the Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week, sophomore Etienne Moshevich entered into a super tiebreaker with the University of Chicago's top player, and Hayashi and junior Dan Wilson were undefeated in doubles. Talent showed itself throughout the Whitman line-up. “I think the biggest surprise was seeing Adriel [Borshansky], who's playing number six singles for us this year, come into his own," said junior Thomas Roston. “One of the fortunate things we have on our team is that it's pretty deep."

“Hadley, say something about how all your wildest dreams came true," said sophomore Elise Otto, looking over at her teammate. Junior Hadley DeBree just smiled. “It's true," she said. With a 12-2 Northwest Conference record, a strong and healthy team and a good chance to exact revenge on their only two conference losses this weekend, the women's tennis team has a lot to be excited about. In addition to team success, DeBree's wildest dreams this season came in the form of the bronzed, 6'1" Spaniard with biceps the size of cocker spaniels and a wild mane of perpetually-flowing black hair: Rafael Nadal. Squeezed in between their various California matches during the first week of spring break, the lady Missionaries made the trek over to Indian Wells, California for a day of watching the number one men's player, Nadal, and most every other top tennis player at the biggest event in tennis after the four grand slams. “There were so many sexy tennis players," said first-year Zoe Kunkel-Patterson. The rest of the team rolled their eyes at this comment, but they weren't disagreeing. The trip to Indian Wells, though, was about much more than ogling the biggest names in tennis.

The economic crisis has finally hit home. Last night, Wednesday, March 11, 300 Whitman students, faculty, staff and concerned community members filed into Maxey Auditorium to discuss the controversial decision to convert the varsity Alpine and Nordic ski team to a club sport. President George Bridges, Athletic Director Dean Snider and other top administrators were on hand to answer questions from the audience about the decision which was announced to the community on March 10.

The Alpine and Nordic Ski teams both raced to an awesome finish last weekend (Feb. 19-21) in their respective West Regional Championship races. The Alpine team competed at the Mt. Rose Ski Resort near Reno, Nevada and the Nordic team competed at the Auburn Ski Club near Truckee, California.