Lacey Cohen’s road to Slippery Rock was an interesting one. Cohen only played two years of high school tennis at Fox Chapel and spent the last two years of high school doing individual training. She won the WPIAL and PIAA doubles championships in 2013. Cohen, a freshman, originally committed to Division-I school Hartford as a three-star prospect coming out of high school. However, Hartford shut down the program, causing Cohen to look elsewhere to continue her academic and athletic career.
Slippery Rock tennis head coach Matt Meredith has his eye on Cohen and was able to convince Cohen to play at Slippery Rock over other Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference members Indiana (Pa.) and Mercyhurst.
“I knew how good of a player she was coming in here,” Meredith said. “We were fortunate enough that she played some tournaments here when she was a young junior.”
Meredith also added that Cohen does a lot of things well and doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses.
“She trains hard, that is one of her biggest strengths,” he said.
Meredith added that the tradition of tennis at Slippery Rock helped bring Cohen to Slippery Rock. Meredith also said that academics was one of the big reasons that Cohen picked Slippery Rock.
Cohen is majoring in exercise science, and the exercise science program was one of the keys to her commitment.
Cohen said about Slippery Rock’s exercise science program, “The exercise science program is one of the top in the country, so that helped my decision.”
Cohen is focusing on occupational therapy while in the exercise science program.
As a freshman, Cohen is playing in the number one singles a lot, as well as on the number one doubles pair where she teams up with junior Carla Corrochano Moracho. Cohen has fit in nicely with the team, stating the chemistry on the court is really good.
“Fitting in with the team was really easy,” Cohen said. “We all get along really well.”
Meredith is thrilled to have Cohen on the team. Meredith said that the freshman year is a learning year.
“This is a learning year for her. She’s learning her opponents and what college tennis is all about,” Meredith said. “We want her to be successful and hopefully have a good season.
Cohen said her goals are more based on winning.
“My goal is just to get as many wins as I can, and to help the team get as many wins as we can,” Cohen said.
Cohen is currently 5-5 in singles play and 8-3 in doubles with Corrochano Moracho. In doubles, the duo is currently riding a two-game winning streak against Division-1 opponents St. Bonaventure and Lafayette.
Cohen will face her next test when the team travels south over spring break to play six games in South Carolina and Georgia. Until then, however, the future looks bright for Lacey Cohen, and Slippery Rock will get to see this student athlete compete for four years.
