NCAA Tournament Brackets
 
INDIANAPOLIS – For the 15th time in the last 18 seasons, the Slippery Rock University women's tennis team punched its ticket to the NCAA Division II Tournament when the NCAA selection committee announced The Rock as the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Region during a live selection show of the 2024 tournament field Monday night.
 
Overall, seven teams from the Atlantic Region qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The University of Charleston and Indiana University (Pa.) garnered automatic bids, and ultimately the top two seeds in the region, after winning the Mountain East Conference and Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournaments, respectively, while The Rock, Mercyhurst, Fairmont State and Millersville received at-large berths.
 
Shaw University, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament champions, are seeded seventh.
 
As the No. 3 seed, Slippery Rock will face sixth-seeded Millersville in the opening round 2 p.m. Friday in Indiana, Pennsylvania. If victorious, Slippery Rock will advance to face the winner of the IUP-Shaw match in the second round on Saturday.
 
Slippery Rock and Millersville will be squaring off for the second time in the last week as SRU previously defeated Millersville, 4-0, in the PSAC Tournament semifinals on May 3.  
 
In the other Atlantic Region bracket, top-seeded Charleston will square off against the winner of the Mercyhurst-Fairmont State first round match on Friday as well.
 
The NCAA Tournament is comprised of 48 teams, 20 automatic berths and 28 at-large selections, spanning eight regions. The teams will play a single-elimination tournament at 16 preliminary round regional sites this week with the champions from each regional location advancing to Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida May 20-24 to determine the 2024 national champion.
 
Slippery Rock earned its tournament bid after a 2024 season in which it went 14-7 overall, but more importantly 13-5 against Division II opponents and a near perfect 5-1 in PSAC West competition while advancing to the championship match of the PSAC Tournament for a third consecutive year.
 
The NCAA Tournament will run in a dual-match format with three doubles contests followed by six singles matches. The doubles matches will be played as three, six-game pro sets with a seven-point tiebreaker at six-all. Singles matches will be run as six best-of-three sets matches. Teams that win two of the three doubles matches earn a point. Each singles match earns a team one point. Teams must win four points to clinch a match.
 
From top to bottom, The Rock features one of the deepest rosters in the Atlantic Region.
 
Leading The Rock is Amaia Balaguer Brau, who took over the SRU's top singles position in her first year with the program as a transfer from St. Thomas Aquinas. A three-time PSAC West Athlete of the Week honoree, Balaguer Brau has compiled an 18-9 singles record this season including a 14-5 mark in first-flight matches.
 
Balaguer Brau, who will enter the NCAA Tournament on an eight-match winning streak, is currently ranked as the No. 74 singles athlete in all of Division II by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. No stranger to the national stage, Balaguer Brau led St. Thomas Aquinas to the NCAA Tournament a season ago prior to joining The Rock.
 
Senior leader Gabriela del Val del Toro has capped off what's been a great collegiate career with a stellar senior campaign in 2024. Heading into Friday's match, del Val del Toro has put together a 16-9 overall record which includes an 11-6 showing from the second flight. She is already the fifth winningest athlete in program history with 139 career victories (singles + doubles).
 
Dari Sakhanova and Tina Slovak both avoided any sort of sophomore slump by following up their strong rookie seasons with quality 2024 performances.
 
Slovak, who like Balaguer Brau is on an eight-match winning streak, has been virtually unbeatable this year as evidenced by her 15-2 overall record and 8-1 fifth-flight tally.
 
Sakhanova, the 2023 PSAC West Freshman of the Year, has won eight of her last nine matches to push her record to 16-10 overall and 12-6 out of the third flight.
 
Nuria Martin Lopez, who like del Val del Toro is playing in her final collegiate season, sports a five-match winning streak which includes a flawless 4-0 record in the sixth flight. Overall she is 11-6.
 
Nicole Kempton, the lone freshman on The Rock's roster this season, has more than proved she belongs in the veteran-laden lineup. Her inaugural collegiate season has seen Kempton go 14-7 overall and 6-4 out of the fourth flight.  
 
The Rock's standard doubles rotation consists of Balaguer Brau / Kempton, del Val del Toro / Martin Lopez and Slovak / Sakhanova.
 
In their first season as a team, Balaguer Brau / Kempton have occupied The Rock's top doubles position with a 12-9 record.
 
Meanwhile, Slippery Rock's other two pairings have both teamed together multiple seasons.
 
Friday's match will serve as the 51st time that Martin Lopez and del Val del Toro have represented SRU as a team. The senior duo have posted 33 career wins– the third-highest total by a doubles pairing in documented program history. This year they are 12-3 overall.
 
It has taken just two seasons for Slovak and Sakhanova to rack up 29 wins as a team. They'll begin the NCAA Tournament riding a personal five-match winning streak which has bolstered their record to 11-7.
 
Slippery Rock is making its 20th NCAA Tournament appearance overall and its 19th trip to the national championships under head coach Matt Meredith. SRU has won at least one NCAA Tournament match in each of the last two years.





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