2008 Woodie Awards
Poll gives women's tennis national attention
By Phil Swartzlander
Rocket Assistant Sports Editor
Issue date: 3/23/07 Section: Sports
The SRU women's tennis team returned from its spring break trip to Clinton and Hilton Head Island, S.C., with a 12-3 overall record and a trip record of 4-1.
The Rock defeated Ashland University, Macalester College, Charleston University and Tiffin University, while losing to No. 25 ranked Presbyterian College.
Going into the trip, the Rock was nationally ranked at No. 30, its highest ranking since being No. 29 in 2003.
Coach Matt Meredith said that the team was going in with a lot of confidence and that they were playing well.
"You can play well, but having to play another nationally ranked team the same day of travel did not bode well for the team as we lost 9-0 to Presbyterian," Meredith said. "Presbyterian is a perennial powerhouse down there and is a lot better competition than we are used to."
Sophomore Kayla Blackburn said that the team learned from the loss, instead of seeing it as a setback.
"We all thought we could've done better, but we didn't let it get us down for the other matches that we had to play," Blackburn said.
The team rebounded from the loss to beat Tiffin 7-2, and then faced a tough match-up with Charleston University, winning 5-4.
"We beat Charleston last year and they came into this match a lot stronger than last year," Meredith said. "This was a battle and a real character win for us. It was a very warm day for us as temperatures were in the upper 70s, but the team responded well and stepped it up."
The team assured itself of a winning trip with a win over Macalester College, 7-2, and then finished off the trip on a four-game winning streak with a win over Ashland University, 8-1.
The Rock defeated Ashland University, Macalester College, Charleston University and Tiffin University, while losing to No. 25 ranked Presbyterian College.
Going into the trip, the Rock was nationally ranked at No. 30, its highest ranking since being No. 29 in 2003.
Coach Matt Meredith said that the team was going in with a lot of confidence and that they were playing well.
"You can play well, but having to play another nationally ranked team the same day of travel did not bode well for the team as we lost 9-0 to Presbyterian," Meredith said. "Presbyterian is a perennial powerhouse down there and is a lot better competition than we are used to."
Sophomore Kayla Blackburn said that the team learned from the loss, instead of seeing it as a setback.
"We all thought we could've done better, but we didn't let it get us down for the other matches that we had to play," Blackburn said.
The team rebounded from the loss to beat Tiffin 7-2, and then faced a tough match-up with Charleston University, winning 5-4.
"We beat Charleston last year and they came into this match a lot stronger than last year," Meredith said. "This was a battle and a real character win for us. It was a very warm day for us as temperatures were in the upper 70s, but the team responded well and stepped it up."
The team assured itself of a winning trip with a win over Macalester College, 7-2, and then finished off the trip on a four-game winning streak with a win over Ashland University, 8-1.
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