Ottawa's Coulter courts racquetball success

Kristin Coulter plays racquetball on small 40-by-20-foot courts, but gets as much exercise out of it as getting outside and going for a long run.

“You can run up to (several) miles in a single match,” the 43-year-old Ottawa resident said.

Coulter knows her racquetball. Despite not taking up the sport until her 20s, she’s the Illinois State Racquetball Association women’s open division state champion.

“It’s in my blood now,” said the third- and fourth-grade teacher and volleyball coach at Rutland School, northeast of Ottawa.

One month ago, Coulter won the state singles title at The Glass Court in Lombard. At the same venue a month earlier, she teamed with Liz Molitor, of Glen Ellyn, to place second in the Illinois women’s open division.

“Kristin keeps getting better and better,” Naperville’s Cheryl Kirk, Illinois State Racquetball Association president, said in an email interview.

“She is competitive, and she also displays exemplary sportsmanship. Coupled with the fact that she is so genuinely nice and caring, we just love having her come and compete,” Kirk added.

“Kristin brings so much to racquetball, and it's so much better when she's around. She gives back in her own community, and we value her greatly as a member of the Illinois racquetball family.”

Before moving to Ottawa to begin her career at Rutland, Coulter — who played volleyball at Fisher High School, near Champaign — took a racquetball class while attending Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais.

“I liked that college class, and when I moved here I began playing open gym volleyball” at the Ottawa YMCA, Coulter said.

One day at the Y, she met Miguel Riollano, of Streator.

“I saw him putting his racquet in his bag. We played, and he thought I had potential. He said he played ‘just a little bit.’ He lied — he’s one of the best players in the area,” Coulter said.

She eyes Riollano as a mentor. He still coaches her, and remains a top-flight racquetball player.

“He runs circles around me,” Coulter said.

She got hooked attending a tournament with Riollano. Coulter usually plays or practices about five times a week and regularly competes in tournaments, many at The Glass Court.

“Racquetball players have a culture all our own. We share a common passion for our sport. It's a fascinating cross-section of society where, say, you can have several people talking racquetball over a beverage. They might be, for example, a firefighter, a painter, a CEO and a single mom, but other roles in life fade into the background as they begin talking about the match they just watched or debating a questionable referee call,” Kirk said.

Racquetball matches are best-of-three games with traditional volleyball sideout scoring. Games are played to 15, except for third games, which run to 11.

“You have to be quick to the ball and in good physical condition,” said Coulter, who added she dropped two pants sizes her first year of playing.

“Anyone can play racquetball. It keeps you healthy. You just need a racquet, a ball, inexpensive goggles and a glove.”

Once a novice herself, Coulter is proof a beginner can rise to become a state champion.