BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team fell 4-1 to No. 41 Indiana University (Pa.) Sunday in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship match from Bloomsburg University's Burt Reese Tennis Center.
 
The Crimson Hawks, which entered the championship ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Atlantic Region rankings, claimed their third straight PSAC title and improved to 13-9 overall with the victory. Slippery Rock, which entered the match ranked No. 3 in the Atlantic Region, finishes the regular season with a 15-8 overall record.
 
The Rock are still a virtual lock to earn a high seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament and will officially find out their postseason fate Monday evening at 8:30 p.m. when the NCAA airs the Division II Women's Tennis Selection Show at NCAA.com. SRU is expected to hear its name called as one of the 48 teams to make the national playoffs for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
 
Slippery Rock's lone point in the team score Sunday came from Gabriela del Val del Toro at the No. 2 singles position. She was the first singles match to finish when she posted a straight-set victory over Natalie Kmoskova (6-2, 6-2) that leveled the team score at 1-1 after Indiana took the doubles point.
 
The Crimson Hawks won the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. Karolin Kirchtag and Katy Graydon took down Adriana Gonzalez Sanchez and Teddi Isherwood 6-2 at the top spot and Kmoskova and Joanna Stralka defeated del Val del Toro and Nuria Martin Lopez 6-4 at the No. 2 spot.
 
After del Val del Toro picked up the singles win at No. 2, IUP clinched the match with victories at Nos. 3-5, leaving the No. 1 and No. 6 matches unfinished.
 
Lydia Vlachou made it 2-1 in favor of IUP with a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 5 against Tina Slovak.
 
The score went to 3-1 shortly after when Stralka defeated Dari Sakhanova 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 at the No. 3 position.
 
With the team score at 3-1 and the No. 1 and No. 6 matches headed to a third set, Indiana closed out the win when Graydon earned a 7-5, 6-3 win over Martin Lopez at the No. 4 position for the clinching point.
 
Gonzalez Sanchez took the second set at the No. 1 position against Kirtchtag and Georgie Lancaster won the first set at the No. 6 spot against Laura Dunarova, but both of those matches would end up not finishing the third set after IUP earned the clinching point.
 
Slippery Rock will learn its NCAA Tournament seeding and the date, location and opponent for its first-round match during the NCAA Selection Show Monday evening at 8:30 p.m. at NCAA.com.
 
 


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