After suffering a tough defeat to rival Indiana University of Pennsylvania on March 31, the Slippery Rock University’s women’s tennis team shifted their attention to another PSAC matchup against Edinboro on Wednesday, April 4. Slippery Rock entered the week looking to improve upon their 7-9 (0-2 PSAC West) record against the Fighting Scots, followed by back to back non-conference matches on Saturday and Sunday against West Virginia State University (13-2) and the University of Charleston (16-5). Slippery Rock would go on to take down rival Edinboro, but lose the remaining to contests, dropping to an overall record of 8-11 (1-2 PSAC West).
Rock tennis set the tone early in doubles play against Edinboro, sweeping all three doubles matches. In their first match together this season, freshman Lauren Fadden and junior Allie Welch were in tune and got The Rock on the board first with a convincing 8-5 victory over Jelena Vucenovic and Payton Tomasko.
Sophomore Viola Lugmayr and freshman Olivia Warner followed suit with an impressive 8-3 victory of their own over Roxana Yeh and Murija Tmusic, giving Slippery Rock a 2-0 advantage early. The duo has now improved their record to 7-8 on the season, 6-5 when playing out of the second flight.
The Green and White tied a bow on the doubles sweep with their top duo of sophomore Lacey Cohen and senior Carla Corrochano Moracho winning their matchup against Tatiana Batalla and Laura Lopez. Cohen and Corrochano Moracho edged out a 9-7 victory, giving SRU a comfortable 3-0 lead heading into singles play.
Slippery Rock impressed in singles competition, winning 4 of 6 total matches, clinching a convincing 7-2 victory over Edinboro University, now 7-8 (1-1 PSAC West). After a resilient performance, Rock tennis looked forward to a busy weekend against two unfamiliar opponents.
On Saturday, Slippery Rock clashed with the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets in a non-conference matchup. With playoffs nearing and both teams in the Atlantic Region, this game had a little extra weight of importance behind it. After handily defeating Edinboro University, the women of green and white would have a tougher time figuring out their opponents Saturday.
The two teams battled back and forth trying to establish a solid lead early, but the Golden Eagles took two of three doubles mates. Lauren Fadden and Allie Welch topped Hanna Kontsevaya and Nika Tadic in doubles play, getting Slippery Rock on the board. The Rock trailed their opposition 2-1 heading into singles play, but unfortunately could not gain enough traction in Sunday’s matchup.
Despite Lauren Fadden and Allie Welch earning victories in singles play, the Yellow Jackets would go on to take 4 of 6 singles matches, ultimately securing a 6-3 victory over Slippery Rock. This loss dropped SRU to an overall record of 8-10.
The last matchup of the weekend for the women’s tennis team was against the University of Charleston Golden Eagles. Sunday proved to be a tough one for The Rock, as they were handed an 8-1 loss. The Rock was swept in all 6 singles competitions but managed to get one point in doubles play as Lauren Fadden and Allie Welch once again proved that they are a force to be reckoned with by winning their doubles match with a score of 8-4. The duo ended their week with a tidy 3-0 record.
SRU’s next game is a home game against a struggling PSAC foe, Seton Hill University (6-8, 3-2 PSAC) on Wednesday, 4:00 PM at the SRU tennis courts. The Rock tennis athletes now know that it is time to hunker down and play their best tennis of the season, as 4 pivotal matches are on the horizon this week, three of those matches being PSAC match-ups which can heavily influence playoff positioning.
