CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team's 2021 season came to an end Monday in a 4-2 loss to Indiana University (Pa.) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on the campus of the University of Charleston.
 
The Rock entered the match as the 40th ranked team in the country while The Crimson Hawks were ranked 29th in the nation. SRU ends its season at 8-7 overall and 8-3 against Division II opponents.
 
The Crimson Hawks record improves to 14-3 overall, IUP will now move on to the regional championship match against Charleston on Tuesday.
 
IUP earned the doubles point followed by victories in the third, fourth and fifth singles flights to clinch the playoff victory.
 
The Rock's two points both came via singles wins from the first and sixth flights as Lois Page recorded a 6-2, 7-6 win over Karolin Kirchtag and Amy Varckette downed Abby Jones 6-3, 6-4. Varckette closes the year with a 6-5 record while Page improved to 6-6.
 
IUP picked up its doubles point when Kirchtag and Katy Graydon defeated Lacey Cohen and Oliva Warner, 6-1, while Laura Dunarova and Joanna Stralka edged Varckette and Lauren Fadden, 6-2, from the second and third flights respectively.
 
Page and Adriana Gonzalez Sanchez, the No. 21 doubles team in the nation, held a 5-3 lead against Idoia Huerta and Lydia Vlachou when their match was stopped after IUP clinched the doubles point with the second and third flight wins.
 
Indiana pushed its lead out to 3-0 starting singles competition via wins in the fourth and fifth flights where Vlachou downed Warner 6-1, 6-1 and Dunarova bested Fadden 6-0, 6-4.
 
The Rock countered by mounting a rally of their own with consecutive victories courtesy of Varkcette and Page, but it wasn't quite enough as Graydon earned the match-deciding point in a tight 6-4, 6-4 decision over Cohen.

The 2021 season marked Slippery Rock's 17th NCAA Tournament appearance all-time and its 12th in the last 15 years. SRU has also now finished the season with a winning record for the 12th time in the last 16 seasons.

Monday's match was the final contests in the careers of seniors Varckette,  Warner, Cohen and Fadden.


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