SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Five members of the Slippery Rock University women's tennis team will compete for regional supremacy when they take part in the 2025 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Atlantic Region championships this weekend at the Burt Reese Tennis Center on the campus of Bloomsburg University.
 
Headlining The Rock's entries is defending singles champion Amaia Balaguer Brau and the second-seeded doubles team of Alissia Kivi and Nicole Kempton.
 
The ITA Atlantic Region championships consist of two draws: a Championship Singles tournament and a Championship Doubles tournament. SRU will have two entries in the 32-team doubles field and five members of the roster taking part in the 64-athlete singles draw.
 
The winners of the singles and doubles tournaments move on to compete in the prestigious ITA Cup Oct. 16-19 in Rome, Georgia.
 
This weekend's matches serve as the fourth individual competition of the season for The Rock.  Members of the team previously competed at the Husky Invitational, the Bucknell Invitational and the Carnegie Mellon Invitational.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live results from this weekend's matches will be posted HERE.
 
THE SCHEDULE
Thursday (9:30 a.m. start)
Doubles First Round
Singles First Round
 
Friday (9:30 a.m. start)
Doubles Round of 16
Doubles Quarterfinals
Singles Round of 32
Singles Round of 16
 
Saturday (10 a.m. start)
Doubles Semifinals
Singles Quarterfinals
Singles Semifinals
 
Sunday (10 a.m. start)
Doubles Finals
Singles Finals

SINGLES PREVIEW
Four of The Rock's five singles entries are seeded competitors led by Balaguer Brau, who will be gunning to become the second back-to-back Atlantic Region singles champion in the last four years: Charleston's Prinkle Singh was also a recent repeat champion (2022-23/2023-24)
 
As the tournament's top seed, Balaguer Brau drew East Stroudsburg's Ariel Kelsick in the first round with a potential second-round matchup against either Isabela De Nadai (Kutztown) or Patricia Castejon (Frostburg).
 
Already a two-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Athlete of the Year, Balaguer Brau has gone 51-21 over her Slippery Rock career in singles action, including a 5-2 mark this year. She ended last season ranked 60th in Division II's year-end singles rankings. 
 
Kivi heads to Bloomsburg as the No. 3 seed in the singles bracket with an opening-round match against Salem's Ekaterina Korsakova on the horizon. If victorious, Kivi will get the winner of the Ekin Ozmen (Bluefield State) – Lara Smith (Fairmont State) contest in the second round.
 
Kivi cemented herself as one of the top athletes in the Atlantic Region as a freshman in 2024-25. She concluded her rookie year with an outstanding 23-8 singles record which resulted in her earning both PSAC West Freshman of the Year and Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year recognition. Any thoughts of sophomore slump can be put to rest for Kivi, who is a perfect 6-0 in singles matches this year.
 
The sixth seed in the singles bracket belongs to Kempton, who will face Charleston's Maria Gomez Yanes in the first round and potentially either Sneha Sundaraneedi (West Virginia Wesleyan) or Nicole Ilkovic (Bloomsburg) in the second round.
 
Kempton, who has started her junior campaign with a nearly flawless 4-1 singles record, is a four-time All-PSAC West honoree who went 20-9 in singles matches a year ago en route to having her on court and off court efforts recognized as College Sports Communicators Academic All-America choice.  
 
Senior Dari Sakhanova opens her final trip to the regional championships as a seeded entry who will face Indiana's Elina Mondani in the first round. A win over Mondani would vault Sakhanova into the second round against either Lia-Sophie Seele (Bloomsburg) or Cecilia Carayol (Edinboro).
 
One of two active 100-match winners on Slippery Rock's roster, Sakhanova has gone 4-2 in the early stages of 2025-26 following a junior year in which she posted a 21-11 single mark.
 
The final entry for The Rock in the singles bracket is Nadia Rodewald, who transferred into the program in the offseason after spending her freshman year at Grand Valley State University.
 
Kivi and Sakhanova both advanced to the quarterfinals of last year's regional tournament with Kempton making it to the Round of 16.
 
Rodewald, who is 3-4 on the season overall, will look to upset fourth-seeded Sofiia Krasikova of Charleston in the first round which would set up a second-round contest against either Laura Maciel (Fairmont State) or Raajitha Koganti (Bluefield State).

DOUBLES PREVIEW
Highlighting The Rock's two doubles pairings that were accepted into this year's ITA Atlantic Region championships are the second-seeded team of Kempton and Kivi.
 
SRU's top doubles team have been nothing short of dominant since joining forces a season ago. The duo has amassed a stellar 30-11 record. Kempton and Kivi closed the 2025 campaign as the No. 38 doubles team in the nation. A year ago at the ITA Atlantic Regional Championships, Kivi and Kempton advanced to the finals before losing a close title bout.
 
This year's draw will see Kempton and Kivi meet West Chester's Delaney Tingle and Alexandra Cave in the opening round with the winner facing a West Virginia contingent from either Charleston (Riva Hondiashvilli / Viola Hirzberger) or Salem (Aishwarya Prasad / Maria Salome Molina)
 
Slippery Rock's other doubles entry for the weekend is the first-year tandem of Sakhanova and Rodewald, who'll open the weekend seeded eighth and square off with IUP's Ifigeneia Kafka and Maria Moskaltsova in the first round.
 
It has taken little time for Sakhanova and Rodewald to gel as evidenced by their perfect 8-0 record through the early stages of 2025-26. A win sends the pair into the second round against either Salem's Ekaterina Korsakova / Daria Korsakova or Cal's Teddi Isherwood / Leandra Guldimann.

UP NEXT
Slippery Rock concludes the fall portion of its season when it hosts Bowling Green University for an exhibition at noon on Oct. 11 at the SRU Tennis Courts.
 
SRU FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE
SINGLES
No. 1 Amaia Balaguer Brau vs. Ariel Kelsick (ESU)
No. 3 Alissia Kivi vs. Ekaterina Korsakova (SU)
No. 6 Nicole Kempton vs. Maria Gomez Yanes (UC)
No. 15 Dari Sakhanova vs. Elina Mondani (IUP)
Nadia Rodewald vs. No. 4 Sofiia Krasikova (UC)
 
DOUBLES
No. 2 Kivi / Kempton vs. Delaney Tingle / Alexandra Cave (WCU)
No. 8 Sakhanova / Rodewald vs. Ifigeneia Kafka / Maria Moskaltsova (IUP)





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