Results
 
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - Highlighted by all four seeded entries in the singles tournament winning their opening-round matches, members of the Slippery Rock University women's tennis team had a strong showing on day one of the ITA Atlantic Region Championships at the Burt Reese Tennis Center on the campus of Bloomsburg University.
 
Prior to the singles draw, the day opened with the first and second round of the doubles tournament.
 
Gabriela del Val del Toro and Nicole Kempton earned a 6-2 opening-round victory over Bluefield State's Shreya Chakraborty and Juliana Jimenez. However, the duo's championships hopes were dashed in the second round following a tight 7-5 loss to Charleston's Michelle Connor and Sara Martinez.
 
SRU's other two doubles entries were defeated in the first round as Dari Sakhanova and Amaia Balaguer Brau were bested by West Virginia State's Julia Daszkiewicz and Daniela Cruzado Fretel, 6-4, while Tina Slovak and Georgie Lancaster lost to Lauren Hayes and Chloe Abramowitz of Millersville, 6-0.
 
The Rock fared much better in the singles draw as all four of its seeded-entries picked up first-round wins.
 
del Val del Toro, who entered the day as the fourth seed in the singles bracket, produced a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Delaney Tingle of West Chester to set up a second-round match against Charleston's Riva Hondiashvilli.
 
As the seventh seed in the region, Nuria Martin Lopez also cruised to an opening-round win by downing West Chester's Ashleigh Grooms 6-0, 6-2. She'll face Chakraborty Friday in the second round.
 
Sakhanova and Balaguer Brau bounced back from their doubles loss with singles wins as well. Sakhanova, the tournament's eighth seed, beat Fairmont State's Jada Okoye 6-3, 6-3 while Balaguer Brau, who was the ninth seed, bested Mercyhurst's Sara Bertolez Puente 6-2, 6-0.
 
Sakhanova, the 2022 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Freshman of the Year, now turns her sights to Friday's second round match against Mercyhurst's Kiersten Brown while Balaguer Brau, who advanced to the finals of the ITA East Region Championships a year ago while at St. Thomas Aquinas, will meet Claudia Pastor of Charleston in the second round.
 
Rounding out The Rock's day was Slovak, Lancaster and Kempton who all had their tournament runs end with close first-round losses.
 
Slovak fell to Adriana Torroba Tejada of Bluefield State 3-6, 6-1, 10-7. Lancaster suffered a narrow 4-6, 6-0, 10-5 setback to Indiana's Hannah Beitat. Kempton's SRU's lone freshman on the roster, lost to Connor in a 4-6, 6-4, 12-10 encounter.
 
The second round of the 2023 ITA Atlantic Region singles championship tournament is set to begin 10 a.m. Friday.
 
 


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