GREENSBURG, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team defeated Seton Hill, 6-1, on the road Friday and in the process clinched a berth into the upcoming Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
Slippery Rock improves its record to 13-7 on the season overall and a perfect 4-0 in the PSAC West with the win while Seton Hill falls to 5-10 overall and 1-3 in league matches after the loss.
 
SRU, which was ranked third in the first set of Atlantic Region rankings released by the NCAA earlier in the week, will join Mercyhurst University and Indiana University (Pa.) as the Western Division's representatives in the PSAC Tournament that also includes the top three teams from the Eastern Division. Seeding is still undecided and will be determined over the final week of regular season competition.
 
The Rock took two out of three doubles matches then proceeded to win five of six singles bouts to cruise to the 6-1-road victory against the Griffins.
 
Allie Welch and Amy Varckette got Slippery Rock started with a strong 6-0 victory in the third doubles flight over Kait Walch and Ana Salazar. Lacey Cohen and Lois Page followed their teammates' lead by claiming a 6-2 victory of their own in the top-flight over Kaelyn Zak and Jenna Bailey, giving Slippery Rock the doubles point.
 
While it had no bearing on the final score, Seton Hill was able to dodge the doubles sweep via a 6-3 win in the second flight by Cameron Beer and Madison DeBone over Lauren Fadden and Olivia Warner.
 
Page opened the singles portion of Friday's match with a 6-0, 6-3 win from the second flight over Bailey. The back half of The Rock's singles rotation proceeded to clinch the match for SRU as Welch downed Salazar 6-3, 6-2 from the fifth slot followed by a 6-3, 6-3 by Varckette against Walch.
 
Cohen, the reigning PSAC West Athlete of the Week, continued her hot streak with a 6-4, 7-5 victory against Zak. The Griffins were able to avoid the team shutout thanks to Beer's 1-6, 6-2, 10-4 comeback victory from the third flight against Warner.
 
However, Fadden ended the day just as it started for The Rock with a 5-7, 7-5, 10-7 win from the fourth flight against DeBone.
 
Following Friday's results, every member of the 2018-19 Slippery Rock roster has a singles winning percentage of .500 or better.
 
Slippery Rock will close its season with a pair of matches in the coming week April 22 at Indiana (Pa.) and 4 p.m. April 24 against California University (Pa.) at the SRU Tennis Courts.



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