The Rocket

Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Nate Daymut Freshman Chelsea Gibson returns a ball along the baseline in her 6-2, 6-0, loss against California University of Pennsylvania. Gibson and her teammates will look to respond against Clarion University after the Rock's second loss of the year. [Click to enlarge]

Not every winning streak can last forever. Just ask the New England Patriots.

The SRU women's tennis team carried a 16-1 record and a 10-match winning streak into a home match against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opponent California University of Pennsylvania on Sunday, only to suffer a 9-0 defeat. The loss was just the team's second in the 2007-08 season and its first since Feb. 2 against Carnegie Mellon. It also was the first conference loss for Coach Matt Meredith's team, sending them to 6-1 in the PSAC and 2-1 in the PSAC West.

The Rock contested California, the fifth-ranked team in Division II, without the help of junior Kayla Blackburn and her sister, freshman Samantha Blackburn, who missed the match for personal reasons. Against California's top doubles pair of Helena VanEysendeyk and Inga Chilingaryan, sophomores Laura Handy and Jessica Hilborn were outmatched in an 8-0 loss. The pairs of Chelsea Gibson-Lara Rizzi and Casey Runyan-Christina Rhodes each lost 8-3. All six Rock athletes also lost their singles matches as the Lady Vulcans earned the sweep on their way to a 20-2 record. They are 4-0 in PSAC competition. Aside from its exceptional talent and dominance in the conference, California is unique due to the fact that all nine members on its roster are international students.

Coach Pablo Montana has recruited his players from six different countries including France, Spain and Kyrgyzstan. If the Rock expects to compete for a PSAC or regional title, a solution will have to be found.

In terms of results on paper, Rock sophomore Casey Runyan was closest to finding a solution when she nearly won the first set of her singles match.

Matched up with Galina Vishnikina, she fell short in a 7-5 first-set effort before a 6-1 loss to end the match.

Though the loss is a minor setback, the future continues to look bright for the 23rd-ranked Rock squad. On Saturday, the team makes a trip east to Philadelphia to square off with Holy Family University. The following morning, on Sunday, SRU will conclude the regular season in Flushing, N.Y., against Queens College. Results from the Rock's Thursday match at Clarion were not available at press time.

The opportunity for a new winning streak could propel the team into the PSAC Team Championships in Bloomsburg on April 25 and 26.

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