The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) held its’ individual championships this past weekend. Slippery Rock sent three players: Senior Carla Corrochano Moracho, who played singles, transfer sophomore Viola Lugmayr, who played doubles, and reigning PSAC-West freshman of the year, sophomore Lacey Cohen, who pulled double duty in singles and doubles.
The first day of competition was a perfect one for the Rock, as they won all six matches they participated in on Saturday.
In the first round of singles, Cohen, the team’s number one, was completely dominant. She dispatched of Kutztown’s Yasmeen Malik quite easily, winning the first set 6-0 and the second 6-1 to move on to the second round of competition later that day. Not as dominant as before, but still performing well, Cohen moved on to the quarterfinals by defeating Katina Jones, Millersville’s number 1, winning 6-2 in both sets.
“Lacey is a very good talent, as she gets more comfortable in her role, she is going to be a force in our conference.” Slippery Rock head coach Matt Meredith said.
Also participating in singles competition was Corrochano Moracho, who struggled with an injury near the end of last season, but Meredith explained that her recovery is coming along well.
“She’s fine, her injury is unique to her, of course,” Meredith said. “We didn’t play her in doubles to give her an advantage in her singles, so she wouldn’t be worn out.”
Corrochano Moracho labored to her first win of the day, winning the sets 7-6 (4) and 7-5, respectively. The second match was not as exhausting on Corrochano Moracho, who won 6-2 and 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Rounding out the competition on day one was doubles competition, which featured Lugmayr and Cohen, who would end up playing four matches of Tennis on Saturday alone.
“That’s a lot of tennis,” Meredith said.
Cohen and Lugmayr impressed in their first match ever playing together, defeating Laura Lopez and Tatiana Batalla of Edinboro 8-4. To wrap up play for the day, Cohen and Lugmayr faced the freshman combo of Leandra Roelker and Elaina Rochford from West Chester, who garner a 3-2 record in doubles this year. The freshmen from West Chester took a heavy early lead, being up 5 sets to 2, but Cohen and Lugmayr dug in late into the match, securing a 9-7 victory.
“We were lucky to win that second-round match,” Meredith said.
Saturday was Lugmayr and Cohen’s first time ever playing together as a doubles team, and Meredith talked about their performance together, and Lugmayr’s impact as a whole.
“Viola has been a very good addition to our team, she is a very strong doubles player, which will add to our depth, in addition to teaching others how to play doubles,” Meredith said. “Lacey and Viola played well for having not played much together.”
Day two did not treat the Rock nearly as kindly. Corrochano Moracho could never quite find her footing, and lost in the quarterfinals to Adrianna Jeffress of Mercyhurst, by scores of 6-1 and 7-5 in the sets. Jeffress is 10-2 on the year and lost to her teammate, Kayla Frost, in the semifinals.
Cohen was the other Green and White competitor who faced a tough draw in the quarterfinals, Saioa Gomez de Segura of Mercyhurst. Gomez de Segura holds a 46-5 career record (best in the PSAC) and is a two-time reigning Atlantic region singles champion. Cohen lost the first set 6-0 but did not go down without a fight, pushing the final set to win two games, but unfortunately fell to Gomez de Segura, 6-2 in the quarterfinal. Gomez de Segura would win the singles tournament.
The final competition on the day came in the form of Cohen and Lugmayr back in the doubles semifinals. Cohen and Lugmayr were tasked with taking on the number two seeded duo of Luise von Agris and Nicole Beidacki of Indiana (Pa.), who have an 8-3 record together this year. Cohen and Lugmayr ultimately failed to reach the finals, losing the match 8-3. Beidacki and von Agris would lose in the finals to the combination of Gomez de Segura and Adina Spahalic.
The tennis team will regroup and play two team matches against Bloomsburg on Saturday and Shippensburg on Sunday, which will be the end of competition for the semester. With the fall schedule being so short and varied, Meredith offered on how his team will stay focused until competition heats back up in the Spring.
“It’s the nature of the beast,” Meredith said. “We’ll be practicing enough that we will be prepared for these upcoming matches and get back into the flow of things, we will be fine.”
