Playing no. 28 nationally-ranked Indiana University (Pa.) in its first conference match of the season, the Slippery Rock tennis team came up short, losing 7-2.
IUP came into the match as the no. 1-rank team in the region, with The Rock not far behind as the no. 5-ranked team in the region.
Prior to the match, Rock head coach Matt Meredith said that he knew playing IUP was going to be a tough match.
“On their roster, they (IUP) might have one girl that plays like eight for them that’s non-international, so they pretty much have guns for hire,” Meredith said. “It’s going to be a tough go for us, but I knew that going into it.”
All seven athletes currently listed on Indiana’s tennis roster are international students.
The highlights of the match for The Rock came courtesy of freshman Lacey Cohen and junior Carla Corrochano Moracho. Cohen and Corrochano Moracho upset the no. 15-ranked doubles pair in the country in IUP’s Luise von Argis and Jarka Peterakova in first doubles. As a pair, Cohen and Corrochano Moracho are now 9-5 on the season.
Corrochano Moracho also upset von Argis, the no. 50-ranked singles player, in second singles, winning a tight 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 back and forth match. Corrochano Moracho improved her singles record to 12-7 on the year.
In first singles, Cohen fell to Petercakova 6-3 and 6-2. Sophomore Amanda Bruscemi, who was playing third singles in the spot of the injured junior Nina Barbano, lost 6-2 and 6-0. Sophomore Allie Welch and seniors Stephanie Fortier and Kylee Woodman also lost their singles matches, playing in the fourth, fifth and sixth flights, respectively.
Behind Cohen and Corrochano Moracho in doubles play, Bruscemi and Welch lost 8-3 and Fortier and Woodman lost 8-1.
SRU now falls to a 4-6 record and will prepare to face a pair of local rivals in doubleheader action this Saturday against Grove City College and Westminster College.
