Results
 
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -  The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team pushed its winning streak to four matches with an impressive 6-1 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division victory over Mercyhurst University Tuesday at the SRU Tennis Courts.
 
The Rock's current stretch of consecutive victories has improved their record to 10-6 overall and 3-1 inside the PSAC West while Mercyhurst drops to 12-5 overall and 2-2 in league matches.
 
Slippery Rock recorded a pair of dominant doubles performances to capture the first team point of the afternoon before nearly sweeping the singles portion of the match en route to what was SRU's fifth consecutive win over the Lakers.
 
Nuria Martin Lopez and Gabriela del Val del Toro turned in the first result of the day courtesy of a 6-0 shutout versus Kiersten Brown and Valentiine Budin out of the third flight. The Rock's senior duo is now 8-2 this season and winners of six straight bouts.
 
Not to be outdone, Dari Sakhanova and Tina Slovak also captured a 6-0 victory from the second flight against Sara Bertolez Puente and Daria Rogova to officially give SRU a 1-0 advantage.
 
While it had no bearing on the team result, Roisin Murphy and Kayla Dean – the 49th ranked doubles pairing in the country – were able to edge Amaia Balaguer Brau and Nicole Kempton in first-flight competition, 6-4.
 
Balaguer Brau avenged the doubles defeat by downing Dean 6-1, 6-4 In a battle of nationally ranked singles athletes. Balaguer Brau came into the day ranked 72nd while Dean was slotted 55th in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division II rankings.
 
Playing in her first singles match in over a month, Martin Lopez bested Budin 6-2, 6-1 out of the sixth flight followed by Sakhanova clinching the team victory for The Rock by way of a 6-3, 6-2 triumph against Murphy at third singles.
 
Mercyhurst did manage to avoid the shutout when Bertolez Puente defeated Kempton in the fourth flight 6-1, 6-4. However, Slippery Rock closed the match as it began – with wins – as del Val del Toro came away with a 6-4, 6-1 victory versus Rogova while Slovak beat Brown 6-2, 7-5.
 
Slippery Rock will now look to extend its winning streak to five matches when it hosts Edinboro 4 p.m. April 22 at the SRU Tennis Courts.





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