Results
 
ORLANDO, Fla. - A complete group effort by the Slippery Rock University women's tennis team resulted in a 4-3 victory over No. 50 Texas A&M Kingsville Thursday night at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
 
SRU has now won three of its last four matches to improve its record 5-3 overall, including a 4-1 mark against fellow Division II competition. The nationally ranked Javelinas fall to 6-3 following the loss.
 
In what was a close battle for the duration of the night, Slippery Rock started quick to earn the always-important doubles point in impressive fashion by sweeping all three flights for the first time this season.
 
The Rock's senior pairing of Nuria Martin Lopez and Gabriela del Val del Toro registered the first result of the night when they pushed their personal winning streak to three matches by capturing a 6-0 victory out of the third flight over Annika Andersson Gomez and Ella Herster.
 
SRU's top doubles team of Amaia Balaguer Brau and Nicole Kempton proceeded to lock up the first team point of the match via a 6-2 triumph against Alessa Maier and Milou ter Morsche.
 
The win at No. 1 doubles was an upset victory for Slippery Rock strictly in terms of national rankings as Maier and ter Morsche entered the contest ranked 19th in Division II by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Kempton and Balaguer Brau have now won three of their last four matches.
 
Tina Slovak and Dari Sakhanova sent Slippery Rock into the singles portion of Thursday's match with even more momentum thanks to a 7-5 victory from the second flight against Manuela Turolo and Luna Jokanovic.
 
The Rock and Javelinas went on to trade wins for the entirety of singles play.
 
The first result went to Texas A&M Kingsville when ter Morsche took a win against Martin Lopes (6-2, 5-1, retired). Slippery Rock quickly re-established its advantage thanks to del Val del Toro earning a 6-2, 6-4 win – the 122nd of her Rock career - in second-flight competition against Turolo.
 
The back-and-forth action continued from the first flight where Maier, the eighth ranked singles athlete in the country, narrowly edged Balaguer Brau 2-6, 6-2,1-0 (11-9). So far during SRU's spring trip Balaguer Brau has earned one victory over a top-10 athlete and took another to the brink in Thursday's close loss.
 
Following a 6-2, 6-2 sixth flight win by Zaffar against Georgie Lancaster, SRU once again brought the match to a tie when Kempton gutted out a tight 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7) victory over Andersson Gomez. Kempton is now 8-3 on the year with a team-best .727 winning percentage.
 
Through five completed singles bouts, Slippery Rock and Texas A&M Kingsville were in a 3-3 deadlock with just the third flight match between Sakhanova and Jokanovic to finish.
 
Sakhanova capped off an impressive night for The Rock as she clinched the team victory, and improved her personal singles record in 2024 to 7-6 in the process, courtesy of a 6-2, 6-4 bettering of Jokanovic.
 
Slippery Rock concludes its time in Florida 11:30 a.m. Friday against No. 19 Angelo State University at the Lake Cane Tennis Center in Orlando, Florida.





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