It's 7 p.m. on Friday when senior Bryant Shain tightens the net on one of the ping-pong tables by the wall inside the Coliseum. The players are gradually making their way through the entrance doors and onto the court to get warmed up.

During the past five years, the Michigan table tennis club has undergone rapid development and growth. The club - once comprised of a small group of 9 or 10 college students interested in playing the game - has tripled in size since its creation.

Undergraduate students, graduate students, professors and other citizens of Ann Arbor now come to hone their spins and slams every Friday night.

Shain, who is president, is largely responsible for the club's development over the past few years.

"I would consider table tennis as my one true passion" Shain said.

With the help of fellow leader Bhargav Avasarala, Shain has started to organize a once-a-month intraclub tournaments with the intentions of promoting friendly competition and preparing the team's best players for the annual Association of College Unions International Championship, a national tournament held each spring. The ACUI is open to midwestern universities and colleges like Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan.

In 2005, Paulo Umesaki, a second-year Business graduate student and former professional table tennis player in Brazil placed first in the Midwestern division of the ACUI. For Paulo, the table tennis club satisfies his love for the game without being overly competitive or time consuming.

"The club is very informal," Umesaki said. "You find someone at the beginning of the practice, and you play them. We don't have a coach."

Another regular that has helped contribute to the general success of the club is 75-year-old John Levens, a retired engineer living in Ann Arbor. He enjoys the general relaxing atmosphere of the game as well as the spirited nature of the club.

For Shain, Levens and the 30 other members of the table tennis club, it is this friendly competitive spirit that makes the club enjoyable. The six hours the club meets each week is a time for the players to take a break from their daily routines.

Although the club has come a long way since its founding, Shain is hopeful that it will continue to develop in the future.

"We need more students at Michigan to join the club," Shain said. "It doesn't matter how much table tennis they've played. We have enough equipment and tables."

The club holds open practices from 7 to 9 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Coliseum. The club always welcomes new members and inexperienced players.