2008 Woodie Awards
Tennis nets another sweep, improves to 16-1 on the year
By Andy Barlow
Rocket Contributor
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Sports
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Player of the Week Kayla Blackburn led the SRU women's tennis squad to another dominant showing last Saturday, this time victimizing Dowling College and host Bloomsburg at the dual meet.
The team defeated Dowling in a sweep, 9-0, while shutting out Bloomsburg as well, by a score of 5-0.
Blackburn won her singles matches 6-0, 6-0, against Dowling and 6-4, 6-2 vs. Bloomsburg. In her doubles matches with partner Laura Handy, the pair defeated Dowling's top team 8-1 and bested Bloomsburg's top tandem 8-0.
Samantha Blackburn and Jessica Hilborn worked hard to come up with close victories in each of their doubles matches, while the tandem of Lara Rizzi and Chelsea Gibson earned a pair of victories also.
Handy, a sophomore, noted that even though victory was essentially expected by her and her teammates, their approach to the match was no different.
"As a team, we played with intensity and never let our guard down," she said.
Intensity, focus and a sense of team unity are only some of the many components this team is made of, at least from what has been witnessed thus far.
Rizzi, a junior, feels that the best is yet to come. She said that defeating Bloomsburg was a huge step.
"Bloomsburg has been one of our rivals for years," she said. "This is the first time we beat them since the 2003-2004 season, so it was an accomplishment for our team."
Following the 9-0 victory over Dowling, Rock Coach Matt Meredith's troops turned their focus on Bloomsburg, which could do nothing to stop the Rock, as the Green & White capped off another perfect performance.
On Wednesday, PSAC rival Indiana University of Pennsylvania suffered at the hands of the Rock, losing 9-0 in yet another shutout.
Highlighting the day's solid play for SRU was sophomore Casey Runyan, who posted a 6-0, 6-0 sweep in her singles match.
Runyan along with Christina Rhodes, posted a 9-7 doubles match win.
Sisters Kayla and Samantha Blackburn had the day off, but the Rock proved to be too deep and too talented to handle.
With the win, SRU, ranked 23rd in the national NCAA Division II poll, improved to 16-1 in dual matches, while IUP fell to 0-5.
The Rock was scheduled to battle Mercyhurst yesterday, but the match was postponed.
No makeup date has been set.
The Rock now sets its sights on rival Cal, who will make the trek to SRU on Saturday for a 12 p.m. start.
The team defeated Dowling in a sweep, 9-0, while shutting out Bloomsburg as well, by a score of 5-0.
Blackburn won her singles matches 6-0, 6-0, against Dowling and 6-4, 6-2 vs. Bloomsburg. In her doubles matches with partner Laura Handy, the pair defeated Dowling's top team 8-1 and bested Bloomsburg's top tandem 8-0.
Samantha Blackburn and Jessica Hilborn worked hard to come up with close victories in each of their doubles matches, while the tandem of Lara Rizzi and Chelsea Gibson earned a pair of victories also.
Handy, a sophomore, noted that even though victory was essentially expected by her and her teammates, their approach to the match was no different.
"As a team, we played with intensity and never let our guard down," she said.
Intensity, focus and a sense of team unity are only some of the many components this team is made of, at least from what has been witnessed thus far.
Rizzi, a junior, feels that the best is yet to come. She said that defeating Bloomsburg was a huge step.
"Bloomsburg has been one of our rivals for years," she said. "This is the first time we beat them since the 2003-2004 season, so it was an accomplishment for our team."
Following the 9-0 victory over Dowling, Rock Coach Matt Meredith's troops turned their focus on Bloomsburg, which could do nothing to stop the Rock, as the Green & White capped off another perfect performance.
On Wednesday, PSAC rival Indiana University of Pennsylvania suffered at the hands of the Rock, losing 9-0 in yet another shutout.
Highlighting the day's solid play for SRU was sophomore Casey Runyan, who posted a 6-0, 6-0 sweep in her singles match.
Runyan along with Christina Rhodes, posted a 9-7 doubles match win.
Sisters Kayla and Samantha Blackburn had the day off, but the Rock proved to be too deep and too talented to handle.
With the win, SRU, ranked 23rd in the national NCAA Division II poll, improved to 16-1 in dual matches, while IUP fell to 0-5.
The Rock was scheduled to battle Mercyhurst yesterday, but the match was postponed.
No makeup date has been set.
The Rock now sets its sights on rival Cal, who will make the trek to SRU on Saturday for a 12 p.m. start.
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