The basement of the UNC Student Union is home to ping pong tables, a space which used to be occupied by bowling alleys. On February 14, this space became a historical site for the MEJO 455 Creative Sportswriting class.

MEJO 455 student Brendan Lunga arrived at the tables early with teaching assistant Joshua Dolgoff to claim paddles and begin to warm-up before the rest of the class showed up. Little did Brendan know; he would soon be competing in the championship of the First Inaugural Crothers Ping Pong Invitational.

Lunga ultimately faced off against fellow student Campbell Atterbury for the rights to the crown. In dominating fashion, Lunga went on to win the big match 21-7, crediting his dad as his inspiration and skills.

Lunga began his ping pong experience with his dad, playing on his kitchen table with a portable ping pong net setup. This table was nothing like a real ping pong playing surface, though, as it was a small, round table.

In middle school, his family finally got a real table for Christmas, placing it down in their basement where Lunga and his dad would compete.

The two would compete in matches to any number imaginable, even playing to 50 sometimes. This gave Lunga an opportunity to practice a game which many play but never turn their skill levels up a notch.

Lunga’s skill led him to try out for the UNC Club Table Tennis team his freshman year. Tryouts did not go as planned for him. The level of competition was nothing he had seen before, and he didn’t receive a call-back.

“Everyone on the club ping pong team could probably beat me 21-0,” shared Lunga.

Through the tournament, Lunga was able to capture four wins to the scores of 11-3, 11-4, 21-5, and 21-7.

Absolute domination.

Atterbury reached the finals in dominating fashion, too. With three wins by the score of 11-5, 11-6, and a strong win in the Final Four.

Atterbury faced Page Lester in the Final Four in a close match, with Atterbury controlling the lead for the majority of the match. Atterbury jumped out to an early lead by winning the first three points, but Lester jumped right back into the game by responding with five straight of her own. From there, it was back-and-forth until Atterbury went up 15-12, and Lester couldn’t close in on the lead.

In the most competitive and tight match of the tournament, Atterbury was able to win 21-17 for her spot in the championship.

Atterbury comes from a similar ping pong background to Lunga’s. Her garage at home houses a ping pong table, where her and her brother would play every day after school. It was very difficult for Atterbury to earn a win against her brother. She shared that she tries to model her ping pong game after her brother.

“I would like to be like my brother, because he’s really good and can put spin on the ball,” shared Atterbury.

Atterbury is also a defensive player. She credits her days playing tennis during her childhood for her play style.

Atterbury said, “If I can just keep in the point, then I feel like maybe I can outlast (my opponent).”

Her defensive play style seems to be the opposite of Lunga’s, who is aggressive and seeks point-winner shots every chance he gets. He also uses a consistent, over-handed kill shot which baffled every opponent he faced.

Entering the championship match, Lunga was the heavy favorite. Vegas would probably consider a wager on Lunga to win as their “lock of the century,” and Atterbury was aware.

Her goal was to win the championship, but realistically she set a goal of scoring 10 points against Lunga, saying she’d be happy getting to that point.

The championship match between Lunga and Atterbury started off with a surprise, as Atterbury was able to rally with Lunga and forced to him to make a mistake and hit the ball off the table.

This was exactly what Atterbury needed to win points. She was only trailing Lunga 3-2 at the first service change, but her success quickly subsided.

Lunga’s power proved too much for Atterbury. He went on a 12-0 run to extend his lead to 15-3. Atterbury wasn’t even out on any point, she held her ground and consistently rallied with Lunga, as he took a more patient approach in the match to combat Atterbury’s play style.

Lunga stated, “Campbell’s play style didn’t really allow me to use (my forehand winner shot) as much so I had to switch up the game style a little bit.”

Now it was time for Atterbury to reach 10 points. She had it in her sights, and never folded. Lunga grew his lead to 20-5. Atterbury forced three match points in an attempt to reach her goal, but Lunga proved himself on the third point, ending the match with the score 21-7.

“I think I could say this might be (my) new greatest athletic achievement,” shared Lunga.

Even while Lunga was leading the whole match with a big smile on his face, Atterbury’s demeanor and sportsmanship never wavered. Throughout the whole match, she would complement winning shots by Lunga.

“I do that with my brother,” Atterbury shared, “Like, it’s cliché but it’s tennis etiquette just to say nice shot and everything, I would do that to respect the other player. But they were really good shots.”

Lunga became a champion in a sport which he was once cut from, certainly a great athletic achievement.