Mikaila Mitchell is the newest member of the Tucson handball powerhouse, having moved to Tucson in 2020 to join her fiancé and top NextGen Star Sam Esser. Mikaila came to handball from volleyball, picking up the perfect game as a college student at Missouri State University. Mikaila’s athletic ability enabled her to develop her handball game quickly, as she routinely made the finals of the Midwest’s biggest events. Now training weekly with top players in Tucson, expect to see Mikaila cracking the WR48 top 10 in the near future.
Before any cracking will happen, Mikaila takes the WPH Rapid Fire Challenge.
(Far Right)
Mikaila Mitchell WPH Rapid Fire Challenge
1. Best city to play: Tucson, AZ. Great indoor and outdoor courts, and weather is always nice!
2. Who is your toughest opponent: When I lived in Missouri, Suz Entzeroth. We would usually always end up in the finals together.
3. Fastest person in handball: Jeff Streibig
4. Who is the hardest hitter in handball: Denny Schmidt
5. Best server in handball: Out of the people I’ve played, Ciana Ni Churraoin
6. Best off-hand in handball: Daniel Cordova
7. Handball hero: Tommy Burnett and Brian Watson
8. Favorite court: The Tommy Burnett Handball Courts in Springfield, MO
9. Player with the best offense: Sam Esser seems to roll everything out when I play him
10. Player with the best defense: Jen Schmitt
11. Most satisfying tournament victory: In my first year of playing handball, I went to the National 3 wall tournament and won Women’s B. It was the most satisfying because I had just started handball and winning a national championship felt awesome.
12. Most disappointing loss: I was disappointed in how I played my first WR48 stop, which was this year in New Orleans. I had trained hard but just didn’t play well. I am excited to join the pro tour once that starts again!
13. Most important title to win: I’d say a World title/National title
14. Favorite doubles partner: When I was in Missouri, Suz Entzeroth and I played some really great doubles. Lately, I’ve been playing a lot of doubles with Ashley Moler and we’ve been unstoppable and remained undefeated in Tucson.
15. Longest match you ever played: A couple years ago I played a 2.5 hr match at the Missouri State Bear Bash. It was a long exhausting game that went to a tiebreaker, and I still had two more matches to play after that.
16. Favorite sport besides handball: I played competitive volleyball growing up and still love the game. In college, I played a lot of intramurals and won some championships. I still enjoy a fun pickup game and have realized handball helped my volleyball game a lot.
17. Favorite tournament (ever): Definitely Worlds in Calgary. I got to meet so many people from different places. It didn’t hurt that Canada was such a fun place to explore.
18. Best match you’ve ever played: I played really well in most of my matches for the 2018 Women’s Classic in Austin, Texas
19. Best match you’ve ever watched: Watching my fiancé Sam play in the Collegiate Championship Final, 2018
20. Title you’d most like to win: a National Women’s Open title
21. Favorite athlete (any sport): Being from KC, I love watching Patrick Mahomes play because he usually does at least one incredible thing per game. Another all time favorite is Kerri Walsh Jennings.
22. What is your favorite book: The Hunger Games trilogy
23. What is your favorite movie: any Romcom
24. What your favorite tv show: It’s a three way tie between Friends, The Office, and Grey’s Anatomy
25. Most important shot in handball: In 4-Wall, I’d say back wall. In 3-Wall, I’d say a good pass shot
26. Your best shot: My ceiling shot
27. Best Fans in Handball: I’d say my fiancé and some of my best friends that I met from handball
Mikaila Mitchell WPH Monday Memory HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer