2008 Woodie Awards
Tennis finishes second in PSAC, earns regional playoff berth
By Andy Barlow
Rocket Contributor
Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: Sports
For the second consecutive season, the SRU women's tennis team is headed to the regional tournament.
However, this time they take with them a bright outlook at finding success outside of the Keystone State.
Fresh off of a second-place showing at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships, Head Coach Matt Meredith and the senior-less squad will travel north to Bryant University in Rhode Island for a rematch with Holy Family University.
Slippery Rock University (20-3) defeated Holy Family (15-5) April 19 by a score of 5-1, and will look to do so once again to earn a shot at facing the winner of the Bryant College-Philadelphia University match.
The team still standing will march out of Rhode Island and meet the winner of the Valdosta State (Ga.) regional in Houston, TX.
The Rock, ranked No. 23 nationally, earned a spot in the regional tournament thanks in part to a strong showing at last weekend's PSAC Championships.
SRU defeated Bloomsburg in the first round of action before suffering another defeat at the hands of national power California University of Pennsylvania.
Two of SRU's three losses have come against Calthis season, the other in February to Carnegie Mellon, a top program in Division III.
The Rock, the No. 3 seed in the Northeast region, just missed out on their chance to host a section of the tournament.
Instead, California (the No. 1 seed) and Bryant (the No. 2 seed) received hosting bids.
Last season, the Rock fell in the finals of the regional tournament. They lost to Bloomsburg on Bloomsburg's home court.
SRU was in the running to host heading into the match with Cal but fell out of that spot with the loss. They will, according to Meredith, use this as motivation.
"We are as healthy as we have been all year," Meredith said. "Those teams up there won't know what hit them. We will come out fighting."
That attitude, combined with a young and dangerous line-up, could certainly pose problems for a lot of opponents.
However, this time they take with them a bright outlook at finding success outside of the Keystone State.
Fresh off of a second-place showing at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships, Head Coach Matt Meredith and the senior-less squad will travel north to Bryant University in Rhode Island for a rematch with Holy Family University.
Slippery Rock University (20-3) defeated Holy Family (15-5) April 19 by a score of 5-1, and will look to do so once again to earn a shot at facing the winner of the Bryant College-Philadelphia University match.
The team still standing will march out of Rhode Island and meet the winner of the Valdosta State (Ga.) regional in Houston, TX.
The Rock, ranked No. 23 nationally, earned a spot in the regional tournament thanks in part to a strong showing at last weekend's PSAC Championships.
SRU defeated Bloomsburg in the first round of action before suffering another defeat at the hands of national power California University of Pennsylvania.
Two of SRU's three losses have come against Calthis season, the other in February to Carnegie Mellon, a top program in Division III.
The Rock, the No. 3 seed in the Northeast region, just missed out on their chance to host a section of the tournament.
Instead, California (the No. 1 seed) and Bryant (the No. 2 seed) received hosting bids.
Last season, the Rock fell in the finals of the regional tournament. They lost to Bloomsburg on Bloomsburg's home court.
SRU was in the running to host heading into the match with Cal but fell out of that spot with the loss. They will, according to Meredith, use this as motivation.
"We are as healthy as we have been all year," Meredith said. "Those teams up there won't know what hit them. We will come out fighting."
That attitude, combined with a young and dangerous line-up, could certainly pose problems for a lot of opponents.
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