Results

WEXFORD, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team lost to Indiana University (Pa.), 4-3, Saturday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition at the PA Tennis Academy in Wexford, Pennsylvania.

The close loss moves The Rock's record to 5-5 overall and 0-1 in league matches while IUP improves to 2-8 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC West. Saturday night's match featured close contests in every flight, including four singles bouts that went three sets.

IUP's Natalie Kmoskova and Joanna Stralka earned an early 6-3 win in the second flight over Gabriela del Val del Toro and Nuria Martin Lopez to open doubles play, but SRU rallied back with wins from the first and third flights to claim the first team point of the night.

Adriana Gonzalez Sanchez and Teddi Isherwood downed Karolin Kirchtag and Katy Graydon from the top flight, 6-4, followed closely by another 6-4 victory by SRU's No. 3 doubles pairing of Tina Slovak and Dari Sakhanova over Idoia Huerta and Lydia Vlachou to give Slippery Rock a 1-0 lead.

However, The Rock was unable to carry its doubles momentum into the singles portion of Saturday's match as the Crimson Hawks took the opening four singles decisions to clinch the team victory.

In the first of the four three-set contests, Kirchtag pulled IUP even with The Rock by defeating Gonzalez Sanchez from the top flight 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 followed by another tight 7-6, 1-6, 6-2 result in the second flight between del Val del Toro and Kmoskova that went to Indiana.

Indiana went closed out the win via narrow wins in the third and fourth flights with Stralka edging Sakhanova 5-7, 7-6, 6-2 and Graydon besting Martin Lopez 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Indiana elected not to play out the remaining singles matches, thus giving Tina Slovak and Georgie Lancaster forfeit victories in the fifth and sixth flights. Slovak took the opening set of her fifth-flight match against Vlachou 6-3 prior to the Crimson Hawks' decision to quit.  

Slippery Rock continues PSAC West competition with a match at Clarion 4 p.m. March 29. SRU has not lost to the Golden Eagles since 1995.




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