Keeping up with tradition
SLIPPERY ROCK — Teddi Isherwood didn’t have to travel too far nor wait too long.
The Butler graduate decided to extend her academic and tennis career at Slippery Rock University, where she has quickly become a cornerstone of SRU’s women’ team.
“This is the best team I’ve had in a number of years here and Teddi is right in the middle of it,” said Rock tennis coach Matt Meredith, in his 24th season. “And she is only going to get better.”
Meredith would know. His 340 career wins rank ninth among all active Division II coaches and his teams have received 15 NCAA tournament bids.
Only a freshman, Isherwood is 19-4 at No. 5 singles for The Rock. She is 12-7 in teaming with Gabriela del Val del Toro of Barcelona, Spain, at No. 2 doubles. She is undefeated in PSAC West play thus far, as is SRU’s team.
Isherwood’s father, Bob Isherwood, is an Associate Professor of Special Education at The Rock. Both of her parents attended SRU.
“The fact they are both alumni, coupled with the quality of the women’s tennis program, are two of the big reasons I came here,” Isherwood said. She is majoring in public health.
Isherwood played No. 1 singles at Butler as a freshman before spending two years at IMG Academy in Florida. She returned to Butler for her senior season and played No. 1 singles again.
“She had a lot of outstanding coaching and played against great competition the past few years,” Meredith said. “That made her transition to college tennis a lot easier than it is for most freshmen.
“Teddi could be at No. 1 singles for some other PSAC schools. The fact she’s at No. 5 for us shows the depth our team has.”
Isherwood isn’t shy about her goals at The Rock. She wants to join the program’s 100-win club, of which there’s just 13 members. She hopes to make All-PSAC in singles and doubles and help her team win the conference championship.
Meredith believes the team can go beyond that.
“Our goal every year is to win the conference, win the regional title and make it to nationals,” the coach said. “This team can get there.”
Isherwood agrees.
“Yeah, this team is pretty good,” she said. “Everyone gets along and pulls for each other. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d be doing as well as I’ve been doing, not this soon.”
Not only has Isherwood had to adjust to playing doubles — something she’s rarely done in her career — but she’s been adjusting to teaming with a player from another country.
“My team has three players from Spain, two from England, one from Germany ... the game is played differently in different countries,” Meredith said. “They play on clay in Spain, so the ball has more bounce and players usually stay back on the base-line.
“They mostly play tennis on grass in England, so the ball doesn’t bounce as much and players are much more aggressive going toward the net.”
Meredith pointed out that few of his recruits come out of high school with much experience playing doubles. He said the United States Tennis Association (USTA) has few doubles events as well.
Isherwood is no exception to that trend.
“Playing doubles has been the biggest adjustment for me,” she said. “I’ve hardly ever done it before coming here. It’s totally different teaming with someone else on the court. We’ve gotten to know each other, learning each other’s strengths ... I know Gabby is accustomed to staying in the backcourt and I’ve been adapting my game to that.”
Meredith jokes that the Isherwood-del Val del Toro team is the “best doubles unit in the country standing 5-feet-0 or smaller.
“Neither is very big, but they are powerful,” the coach said.
He added that Isherwood has exceeded his expectations, which were pretty high to start with.
“It’s definitely stressful anytime a high school player moves on to college because there’s more pressure to win and the talent on the court is physically stronger,” Meredith said. “That hasn’t been an issue for Teddi. We spend a lot of time working on doubles, meshing talents together, getting players to work together as a tandem on the court.
“Simply put, Teddi’s been outstanding in every way. She could do great things with us.”
