The Slippery Rock University women’s tennis team lost to Edinboro University Tuesday afternoon, 7-2, in Erie, Pa. at the Westwood Racket Club.
The team touts a 7-10 overall record while 0-4 in conference play after the loss. The loss snaps a one-game win streak and is their fourth in the past five games
“We’re playing with two of our top players out,” Matt Meredith, Slippery Rock head coach, said. “They accumulate a lot of wins for us, and without them in there, that’s why we’re struggling.”
Those players Meredith is referencing are juniors Carla Corrochano Moracho and Nina Barbano, both out for the rest of the season due to injury.
“In tennis, you can’t just put people in their slots, you’ve got to bump people up,” Meredith said. “So, it’s detrimental that without them in there, it’s been a tough road for us. If we have them in there, I would predict we’d probably only have about three losses this year.”
However, with three games left, the team still has a chance to break even on the season
“I’m hoping we can get a couple of those,” Meredith said. “We also are playing a nationally-ranked team this Saturday, in Charleston, who won their conference and who’s sitting three in the region right now, so that will be a tough go for us.”
The competition started with doubles action in the form of sophomore Amanda Bruscemi and Freshman Lacy Cohen, first doubles. The pair got The Rock off to fast start when they downed their opponents 8-3, moving to 6-4 on the season.
After that, wins were few and far between for The Rock, as they were only able to obtain one more win on the contest.
Next up was the duo of seniors Stephanie Fortier and Kyle Woodman, second doubles. They finished their match 8-3, but were on the receiving end of a loss.
To round out the doubles action on the day were sophomore Allie Welch and senior Tiffany Kollah, third doubles. Coincidentally, their match ended in an 8-3 finish as well, a theme of the day, but they too were on the losing end.
Heading into singles competition. The Rock trailed Edinboro 1-2.
Woodman, sixth singles, jump-started singles competition putting up a valid effort, but a slow start saw her lose the match 6-1 and 6-4, respectively.
Kollah, second singles, followed suit after starting off strong, losing her match 6-4 and 6-0, respectively.
Cohen, first singles, cut into the Edinboro’s lead with a well-earned win over her opponent 6-4 and 6-3. The win momentarily prevented Edinboro from clinching the game. With that being said, Bruscemi, third singles and Cohen’s doubles partner, was not able to keep the momentum going, losing her match 6-2 and 6-3. That Rock loss was able to clinch the win for Edinboro.
To round things out, Welch, fourth singles, put up a good fight, but lost 6-3 twice. Fortier, fifth singles, nearly captured a third win for The Rock and most likely had the most competitive match of the game. Fortier started slow, regrouped mid-match, but eventually lost 3-6, 6-1, and 6-2.
The Rock will look to get back on the winning track and close out the season 10-10 when they go up against the University Charleston Saturday at noon. Whether they can win out or not, Meredith knows better and healthier days lie ahead for his team.
“We get healthy and we kick a lot of butt,” Meredith said. “That’s what I always expect. I expect to be able to contend for a PSAC title as well as making regionals, what we always do. So, this is kind of a hard one to take this year, but our expectations (for next year) don’t change.”
