Results

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team enjoyed a strong start to the 2023 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Individual Championships Sunday at the Burt Reese Tennis Center on the campus of Bloomsburg University.

Representing The Rock Sunday was Amaia Balaguer Brau, Gabriela del Val del Toro, Nicole Kempton and Dari Sakhanova. Balaguer Brau, del Val del Toro and Sakhanova competed in the singles tournament with SRU's doubles pairing consisting of Kempton and del Val del Toro.

All three of Slippery Rock's representatives in the singles draw were seeded entries with Balaguer Brau serving as the three-seed while del Val del Toro and Sakhanova occupied two of the No. 5-8 seeded spots.

Kempton and del Val del Toro entered the doubles championship as the third-seeded team in the tournament behind Kayla Dean / Roisin Murphy (Mercyhurst) and Ming Deewajee / Daniela Ramos of IUP.

The PSAC Individual Championships began with the opening two rounds of the doubles bracket where Kempton and del Val del Toro cruised to a pair of victories.

The first round saw The Rock's doubles entry best Edinboro's Cecilia Carayol and Johanna Priedite, 8-5, to set up a quarterfinal bout against Bega Gotor and Carmen Duran of California (Pa.).

Kempton and del Val del Toro proceeded to cruise to an 8-0 shutout against the Vulcan's representatives to secure a spot in the semifinals where they will meet the tournament's second-seeded team of Deewajee and Ramos.

Following the conclusion of the opening doubles rounds, the singles draw commenced.

Sakhanova had a perfect start to her tournament run as she blanked Shippensburg's Brooklynn Rupert 6-0, 6-0. Sakhanova promptly continued her dominance courtesy of another 6-0, 6-0 triumph in the Round of 16 against Seton Hill's Kasey Storkel.

del Val del Toro carried over her momentum from earlier in the day by besting Bloomsburg's Nicole Ilkovic 6-1, 6-4. Following the opening-round win, del Val del Toro punched her ticket to the tournament's quarterfinals for a second consecutive year by way of a 6-3, 6-2 win over Priedite.

The only blemish in the first round for Slippery Rock came when West Chester's Delaney Tingle was able to upset Balaguer Brau 6-2, 6-4.

Monday's quarterfinal singles matches will feature Sakhanova squaring off with Mercyhurst's Kayla Dean, the tournament's top seed, while del Val del Toro will have the opportunity to avenge Balaguer Brau's loss against Tingle.

Day two of the 2023 PSAC Individual Championships is slated to get underway 10 a.m. Monday with the women's doubles semifinal matches.



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