Results  |  2022 All-PSAC West Team
 
WEXFORD, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team defeated West Liberty University, 4-0, in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament Friday at the Oxford Athletic Club in Wexford, Pennsylvania.
 
Slippery Rock, which entered the tournament as the fourth seed in the Atlantic Region, improves its overall record 16-7 on the season while West Liberty, the region's fifth seed, has its year ends at 11-7 overall.
 
With the win, Slippery Rock moves on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where it will face Indiana University (Pa.), the top-seeded team in the Atlantic Region, for the right to advance to the round of 16 which will take place May 17 in Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
 
The victory also marked the 13th NCAA Tournament win in the career of head coach Matt Meredith, who was named the 2022 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Coach of the Year earlier in the day.
 
SRU opened up what would turn out to be its 10th shutout of the season in fine fashion as The Rock's No. 3 doubles team of Zoe Heed and Georgie Lancaster defeated Nathalia Valencia and Jaqueline Pena 6-1. Heed and Lancaster's win pushed the duo's record on the season to a stellar 16-2.
 
The Rock then clinched the doubles point when Lois Page and Adriana Gonzalez Sanchez downed Emma Arnal and Daria Shchoma in a close 7-5 decision. The victory capped off a day for Page and Gonzalez Sanchez that also saw the pair earn first team All-PSAC West honors as both a team and as singles competitors.
 
Following SRU's win in the first flight, the second flight contest between SRU's Gabriela del Val del Toro / Teddi Isherwood and WLU's Gemma Cliffe / Evelina Martirosyan was halted with del Val del Toro and Isherwood leading 5-4.
 
del Val del Toro, who was also bestowed with All-PSAC West honors earlier in the day, continued her streak of amazing play to open up the singles portion of Friday's match as she earned The Rock's second point of contest by besting Cliffe 7-5, 6-2 from the third flight.
 
The win stretched del Val del Toro's winning streak to 12 matches and was her 26th overall of the season, the fourth most in single-season program history.
 
Nuria Martin Lopez then nudged SRU one step closer to the second round of the NCAA Tournament when she earned a 6-1, 6-4 victory from the fourth flight against Valencia. A winner of four straight matches, Martin Lopez is now 19-9 in her first season at SRU.
 
Isherwood proceeded to promptly seal the postseason victory for Slippery Rock as she outlasted Pena from the fifth flight 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Not only did her victory send SRU into the second round of the NCAA Tournament, it also represented the freshman's 22nd win of the year.
 
With the team victory already assured for Slippery Rock, bouts from the first (Page vs. Martirosyan), second (Gonzalez Sanchez vs. Arnal) and sixth (Heed vs. Shchoma) flights were stopped.
 
Due to anticipated inclement weather in the region Saturday, the second-round match between Slippery Rock and IUP has been moved indoors to the Greensburg Racquet Club, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m.
 
 



To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official Athletic Communication accounts on Twitter (@Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).