Rising Phoenix 2/8/2024 3:00:00 PM by Daniel Schulman

Bounce Back: Madison Cordisco Returns To The Court

ELON, N.C. – Coming into college, Madison Cordisco was a highly-touted recruit.

In high school, she achieved the No. 2 overall recruit ranking in the state of Pennsylvania and was a top-50 recruit nationally, making her a five-star recruit in the 2022 class. Naturally, with that high a ranking came high expectations.

Since arriving at Elon, Cordisco has met those expectations.

After a strong showing during the fall of her freshman season, Cordisco carried over the momentum to the spring, where she played as high as the No. 2 singles and doubles spots for the Elon University women's tennis team.

"My academy in Hilton Head really helped me adjust to college tennis," Cordisco said. "It was a very high level academy, so the transition from there to college wasn't too bad. I would say having a lot of free time and adjusting to that was more difficult than the tennis part."

She also said her Elon teammates were a big reason why the transition to college was so seamless.

"My team was super supportive," Cordisco said. "As an incoming freshman, they taught me what to do, they showed me the ropes, and made it pretty easy."

But then, after a promising start to her Elon career, she began to feel some tightness in her hip, which altered her freshman season.

"We were doing conditioning, and I felt a little discomfort in my hip," Cordisco said. "I was like, 'oh, OK, maybe it's just tight,' because all my other teammates had the exact same thing. A month or two later, my team was perfectly fine, and I wasn't, so I was like, 'OK, maybe something is wrong.'"

After receiving two cortisone shots, an X-ray and an MRI, she found out what had been ailing her.

"The MRI showed that I had a torn labrum in my right hip," Cordisco said. "That was a little shocking for me."

Gallery: (2-8-2024) Rising Phoenix: Madison Cordisco

While the injury hampered what was a strong start to her rookie campaign, Cordisco fought through it and continued to play, although she was limited to just doubles for the last month of the season.

Even with her injury, Cordisco lived up to the hype prior to her freshman season. She finished with an impressive 11-5 record as a doubles player, earning a spot on the 2022-23 All-CAA Second Team for doubles

At the conclusion of her freshman season, Cordisco underwent surgery to repair her torn labrum, starting a six-month recovery process. The recovery extended beyond just the physical, according to Cordisco.

"I would say it's a lot to deal with mentally, as well as physically," Cordisco said. "It's a little bit of ups and downs, but we'll get there eventually."

For Cordisco, a big help throughout the recovery has been her teammates.

"My team has been super supportive," Cordisco said. "Honestly, I couldn't have done anything without them. After surgery, they would always check in, call me, ask how I was doing. It was difficult because they were so supportive and I couldn't show up on the court, I couldn't play for them. But having their support meant everything."

She also credited her coaches and her support system at Elon and at home for uplifting her throughout the entire process.

"My coach is the best, I love her to death," Cordisco said. "My trainers have been so helpful. Obviously my surgeon, my family, everyone has been super supportive. I couldn't have done anything without them."

After missing the entire fall slate of the schedule for her sophomore year, Cordisco is now back on the court with her teammates to begin the spring season, as a doubles-only player, for now.

While she said the injury has not affected too much of her game, she has made some small adjustments to her game with the help of her physical therapist.

"He analyzes everything, so he found that when I'm returning, that my pelvis is tilted forward, which puts a lot of pressure on my back," Cordisco said. "We've talked about changing my return stance a little, and I have noticed a huge difference with that."

As Cordisco eases her way back to the court, she's itching to be able to return this season without any restrictions.

"I'm just taking it day-by-day," Cordisco said.

'Rising Phoenix' is a new student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on Twitter (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Jacob Kisamore at jkisamore@elon.edu.

--ELON--

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Players Mentioned

Madison Cordisco: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Madison Cordisco
: 5' 3"; Sophomore