The Slippery Rock University’s women’s tennis team had its back against the wall just over a week ago, after suffering a tough loss against the University of Charleston, dropping their record to 8-11. Rock Tennis realized that they had control over their postseason destiny, with a 4-game week coming up, that would decide it all.
This week however, belongs to Slippery Rock. No matter if it was Seton Hill University (7-9, 3-3 PSAC West), Clarion (5-10, 1-5 PSAC West), California University (Pa.) (0-6, 0-6 PSAC West), or Ashland (8-16), no opponent was an equal match to SRU over this weekend.
Slippery Rock rolled this past week, posting a 4-0 record, and taking an 8-11 record and improving it to a 12-11 record in a span of just 5 days. The Green and White posted 3 consecutive 9-0 shutouts against Seton Hill on Wednesday, Clarion on Friday, and Cal U on Saturday. On Sunday, SRU battled Ashland and promptly took care of business with a final score of 8-1, therefore securing a spot in the PSAC tournament. Aside from clinching a postseason berth on Sunday, the victory against Ashland was not just any ordinary win.
A perfect example of longevity and sustained success, Slippery Rock Tennis’s head coach Matt Meredith earned his 300th career victory against Ashland. Over a span of twenty seasons at SRU, Coach Matt Meredith posted an impressive record of 300-167, which equates to a .642 percentage. Only one other active coach in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference has 300 career victories, Matt Coyne of Bloomsburg with 315.
Not only was this victory a milestone in Coach Meredith’s illustrious career, one of Slippery Rock’s most talented players and team leader, senior Carla Corrochano Moracho is knocking on the door of Slippery Rock Tennis history. In the win against Ashland, the duo of Lacey Cohen and Corrochano Moracho prevailed once again, taking down Ashland’s Anna Hart and Camille Ringot, 8-2. The win improved the talented duo’s record to 14-8 on the year. Also, this win marked Corrochano Moracho’s 99th of her career. Poised to play at least two more matches in the PSAC tournament, she is in great position to become one of only ten players in program history with at least 100 career wins.
After a dominant and historic week for Slippery Rock Tennis, Coach Meredith and the team earned their first PSAC tournament appearance since the 2011-2012 season and now turn their focus to the PSAC West Rival Mercyhurst on Tuesday, April 17th at 1 pm at the Pennbriar Racquet Club. Slippery Rock lost the first matchup against Mercyhurst earlier in the season, but look to put their resiliency and ability to overcome adversity on display.
