The Women's State Doubles Tournament was held on February 8-9 at Lake Forest College. Twenty women participated, which is the most entries this tournament has had to date. Allison Roberts and Tanya Lazaro defeated Priscilla Shumate and Tanya Dietzler in the finals, 21-16, 21-20. Allison moved to Lake Forest earlier this year when she decided to teach economics at the College. Also, Priscilla Shumate, the only woman to win Open singles in one-wall, three-wall, and four-wall nationals in the same year, recently moved to Indianapolis. Illinois handball is fortunate to welcome these two top women players to the area

The final match was certainly exciting, with the dominant left side players doing all they could to keep it away from each other and both right side players pulling their weight. Although it looked like Shumate and Dietzler might pull out the second game, Roberts and Lazaro were too tough to fend off. Excellent handball was also displayed in the semi-finals when Shu!mate/Dietzler had to play the number one Lake Forest team of Megan Mehilos and Leslie Boyle. Mehilos and Boyle won the first game 21-11, and it looked as if there might be an upset. But Shumate/Dietzler ended up winning the second game 21-19. Mehilos and Boyle made a comeback at the end of the second came, and the momentum was in their favor going into the tiebreaker. However, Shumate's serves proved to be too tough in the tiebreaker, and Shumate/Dietzler won 11-0. Mehilos/Boyle were able to recap after the tough loss to beat another Lake Forest team, Amy Sove and Megan Gibson, in the A Finals, 21-9, 21-4.

The teams that lost first round in the Open dropped down to the B division, which consisted of two round robin brackets. Teams, Robin Sterrett/Niamh Kristufek and Mary Gerke/Erika Sove, were undefeated in their respective brackets. When they met in the finals, Sterrett and Kristufek won the first game easily, 21-1, but Lake Forest alums, Gerke and Sove, were not discouraged. They fought hard in the second game, but they couldn't pull it out, losing 21-20.

The tournament was a great success and exhibited some of the best women's handball Illinois has seen. Congratulations to the 2002 state doubles champs, Allison Roberts and Tanya Lazaro!