Results
 
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team lost in the 2022 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament Championship match, 4-1, to Indiana University (Pa.) Saturday at the Burt Reese Tennis Center in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
 
Despite Saturday's loss, Slippery Rock's season is more than likely still not done as The Rock boasts a strong resume to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. Slippery Rock exits the IUP match with a 15-7 overall record. Most importantly, SRU was ranked fourth in the latest set of Atlantic Region rankings.
 
The NCAA regional rankings determine the participants for the NCAA Tournament. The Atlantic Region consists of teams from the PSAC, the Mountain East Conference (MEC), the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) and select independent institutions within the region's borders.
 
All three conference tournament champions receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament with the next four highest ranked teams in the final regional rankings receiving at-large bids. It is very likely that SRU will be one of those four teams. The official release of the 48-team field for the 2022 NCAA Tournament will be announced 8:30 p.m. May 3 on NCAA.com.
 
Slippery Rock took the doubles point in Saturday's championship match before the Crimson Hawks (17-7) rallied with four consecutive singles victories to record its second straight PSAC title.
 
As was the case in Friday's semifinal win over Millersville, The Rock's top doubles team of Lois Page and Adriana Gonzalez Sanchez posted the day's first victory when they beat Natasha Munday and Joanna Stralka, 6-2, in the first doubles flight. Winners of five straight, Page and Gonzalez have compiled an overall record of 19-11.
 
IUP proceeded to take the victory in the second flight when Karolin Kirchtag and Katy Graydon bested Teddi Isherwood and Gabriela del Val del Toro, 6-4.
 
Slippery Rock was able to capture the team point as Georgie Lancaster and Zoe Heed continued their winning ways from the third flight by way of a 6-4 win against Lydia Vlachou and Laura Dunarova. Heed and Lancaster have now won seven straight matches and are 15-2 on the year.
 
However, SRU was unable to pull off the championship victory as Vlachou opened the singles portion of Saturday's match with a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Isherwood from the fifth flight before IUP took the lead following Stralka's 6-3, 6-2 win over Gonzalez Sanchez in the second flight.
 
Dunarova went on to edge Indiana closer to the team title when she defeated Heed 6-1, 6-4 in sixth flight action before Kirchtag officially clinched the match out of the top flight with a three-set 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 win against page.
 
Following Kirchtag's win, the third and fourth flight matches between del Val del Toro – Munday and Nuria Martin Lopez – Graydon were halted.
 
If Slippery Rock does earn an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament it will mark SRU's 18th appearance in the national tournament under head coach Matt Meredith, and its fourth in the last four completed seasons.
 
The first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament will be held May 6.






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