Sept. 23, 2007

Bloomsburg, Pa. - The Rock sisters duo of Kayla and Samantha Blackburn will seek to earn a berth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Small College National Championships on Monday.

The Rock's No. 1 doubles team moved one win away from a trip to Mobile, Alabama, in mid-October by winning its first three matches in the East Regional hosted by Bloomsburg University.

The Blackburns, the No. 2 seed in the "A" Doubles competition, opened tournament play with an 8-4 win over LeMoyne College's Walrath and Artessa on Saturday.

Sunday, the Blackburn sisters breezed past Clarion's sister duo of Rombach and Rombach, 8-2, and knocked off the third-seeded tandem of Alekseeva and Chipchase by scores of 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).

The Rock duo trailed by a 6-4 score in the second-set tiebreaker before scoring four straight points to claim the win, Rock head coach Matt Meredith pointed out.

SRU's other entry in the "A" Doubles competition, the duo of Jessica Hilborn and Laura Handy won a 9-8 (7-3) decision over Bryant's Burke and Downing before it lost an 8-5 decision to Kutztown's fifth-seeded duo of Joerms and Das.

In "A" Singles competition, three of The Rock's four entrants lost their first matches after receiving opening-round byes.

Hilborn won a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Dowling's Horishney in the first round but then lost a 6-2, 6-0 decision to top-seeded Santorof of California in the second round.

Kayla Blackburn, the third seed in the competition, dropped a 6-0, 7-6 (7-2) decision to Alekseeva of California in the second round.

In other "A" Singles second-round matches, Samantha Blackburn lost a 6-0, 6-0 decision to Sesanker of Cedar Crest and Handy dropped a 6-3, 6-1 decision to Philadelphia University's Rodriquez.

In "B" Singles competition, Kasey Stenger won an 8-3 decision over Dowling's Speyer in the opening round, then dropped a 6-1, 6-1 decision to Dalton.

Christina Rhodes beat Conway 6-0, 6-1 in the first round and played Bryant's Francazio in the second round on Sunday (results not available).

In other "B" Singles first-round matches, Melissa Herron lost 8-2 to Dowling's Sousa, Christina Rubino dropped a 6-3, 6-3 decision to Holy Family's Pulsahelli, Christina Runyon lost 7-5, 4-6, 10-6 to Bryant's Granville, Lara Rizzi dropped an 8-3 decision to Philadelphia University's Brennan and Chelsea Gibson lost 6-4, 6-2 to East Stroudsburg's Ferrigino.