After a dominant freshman year earning Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Freshman of the Year and a strong start to her sophomore year, women’s tennis player Lacey Cohen has been voted Athlete of the Month September.
“Ever since middle school I’ve played every singe day,” Cohen said. “And I trained for hours on the weekends and everything throughout high school.”
So far this season, Cohen has managed a 7-2 singles record, while going 6-2 in doubles competition. Her play has brought success to the team, as The Rock sits with a 3-0 record in team play, with three 9-0 wins against Westminster College, Bloomsburg University, and Shippensburg University.
In the PSAC Individual Championships in early October, Cohen was able to make it to the quarterfinals in the singles bracket, while loosing in the semifinals with sophomore teammate Viola Lugmayr. On the day one of the event, Cohen had to play four matches combined, but the amount of playing time doesn’t seem to wear her down.
“We’ve been working on fitness so that helped,” Cohen said regarding her amount of playing time. “Its really grueling, but we have a good positive team atmosphere so its easy to push ourselves.”
In her freshman year she was able to make herself The Rock’s No. 1 singles player, while playing along side now senior Carla Corrochano Moracho and Amanda Bruscemi playing as the teams top duos. Cohen also earned All-PSAC West honors last season as she went 13-13 in singles matches, 4-2 in tournament play, while managing a 16-11 overall doubles record.
“It comes pretty naturally,” Cohen said regarding her doubles partners. “We each have strengths and weaknesses and we switch it up when we play with each other. We work a lot on doubles in practice so we test the waters and what works and what doesn’t.”
Last season, her and Bruscemi were ranked as the eighth best doubles team in the Atlantic Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
Along side all her other freshman achievements, Cohen was able to earn PSAC Scholar Athlete honors her freshman year, while also dominating on the court and earning honors in that department as well.
“All through high school I’ve had to make sacrifices,” Cohen said. “With going to practice right after school and then coming home and doing homework so I didn’t really have to make any major life style adjustments, Ive just been doing what I’ve been doing since high school its just a much harder level.”
