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BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Slippery Rock
University’s 34th-ranked women’s tennis team
claimed its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
championship since 1981 with a 5-2 win Saturday afternoon over
hosting Bloomsburg University.
The Rock’s Ella Reilly (sr.,
Randwick, Australia/Fahan HS) was named the
tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Reilly won two No. 2 singles matches in the
tournament and teamed up with junior Jessica Bungo
(Indiana/Indiana HS) to win three No. 2 doubles
matches.
Slippery Rock jumped out to 2-1 lead Saturday
with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. The Michaux sisters
– senior Christy and freshman Ashley (Jeannette/Jeannette
HS) --won the No. 1 doubles match, 8-3, while Reilly
and Bungo won 8-4 at No. 2.
Reilly then won her No. 2 singles match
by a 6-2, 6-0 score and Ashley Michaux won at No. 4 singles
by a 6-1, 7-5 score to put SRU on top, 4-1, in the team
scoring.
Bloomsburg threatened to close the margin to
4-3 when it won the first sets in both the No. 1 and No. 5 singles
matches, but SRU’s Christy Michaux slammed the door
and clinched the team title win with a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 3
singles.
Christy Michaux’s win meant the
No. 1 and No. 5 singles matches had no bearing on the outcome and,
thus, did not need to be completed.
The team title was the third won by a Rock
women’s tennis team since the first varsity team was fielded
in 1973. SRU won back-to-back team titles in 1980 and 1981.
Bloomsburg earned conference runner-up honors
for the third successive year.
Both The Rock and Bloomsburg anticipate
receiving NCAA Division II regional berths next week. The Rock has
earned a regional berth each of the past three seasons and four
times in the 30-year history of the women’s tennis
program.
# ROCK PRIDE
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