Results

GREENSBURG, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team earned a 4-1 NCAA Tournament victory against Fairmont State University Monday at the Greensburg Racquet Club in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
 
Slippery Rock, the third seed in the Atlantic Region, improves its record to 16-8 overall following the postseason triumph while Fairmont State, which came into Monday's match as the sixth seed in the region, ends its year at 13-7.
 
With the win, Slippery Rock moves onto the second round of the NCAA Tournament for a third consecutive year where it will meet second-seeded Indiana University (Pa.) 12 p.m. Tuesday at the Oxford Athletic Club in Wexford, Pennsylvania.
 
Slippery Rock found itself in an unfamiliar position Monday when FSU captured the doubles point to force SRU into comeback situation entering singles play. Prior to the Fairmont State match, The Rock had won the doubles point in 17 of their 20 Division II matches this season.
 
Fairmont State's top doubles pairing of Elodie Buclin and Maria Fonseca opened the match with a 6-4 win over The Rock's Teddi Isherwood and Adriana Gonzalez Sanchez.
 
While SRU's third flight team of Dari Sakhanova and Tina Slovak were able to best Luiza Parreira and Candela Sevilla, 6-3, FSU was ultimately able to secure the doubles point with a 7-5 comeback victory from the second flight by Emme McKnight and Ainara Pastor Garcia against Gabriela del Val del Toro and Nuria Martin Lopez.
 
However, any thoughts of a Fairmont State upset were quickly put to rest as Slippery Rock promptly mounted an excellent comeback by picking up four straight singles victories to defeat the Falcons and advance into the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Slippery Rock's comeback started from the second flight where del Val del Toro was a 6-2, 6-0 winner against Pastor Garcia. del Val del Toro's win not only tied the match for The Rock, but also improved her personal overall record to 29-7 on the year.
 
Sakhanova proceeded to give The Rock their first lead of the afternoon by way of a convincing 6-1, 6-0 win in the third flight against Parreira. One of two Rock freshmen on the roster, Sakhanova has produced a 15-7 record as a rookie in 2023.
 
The combination of Gonzalez Sanchez and Georgie Lancaster then put the match away for SRU. Gonzalez Sanchez, SRU's first flight entry, downed Fonseca 6-2, 6-3 and Lancaster tallied the match-deciding 6-2, 6-3 decision over Sevilla in the sixth flight.
 
Gonzalez Sanchez has now won 19 singles matches this year while Lancaster is 9-7 when playing out of the sixth flight.
 
Following Lancaster's win, the fourth and fifth flight contests were halted. Martin Lopez took the opening set in the fourth flight from Buclin, 6-4, and was leading 2-1 in the second set while Slovak and McKnight split the first two sets out of the fifth flight.
 
The second round NCAA Tournament match between The Rock and Crimson Hawks will mark the third time SRU and IUP have squared off the season. Indiana won the first two contests with a 4-3 regular season victory followed by a 4-1 win in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament championship match.
 
The winner of Tuesday's match advances to the Round of 16 against a yet to be determined opponent May 12 at the USTA National Campus Collegiate Center in Orlando, Florida.



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).