SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team will play its annual non-conference match against Division III power Carnegie Mellon University 6:30 p.m. Friday at Alpha Tennis and Fitness in Pittsburgh.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
In-match results for Friday's contest will be provided at the below link.
 
MATCH 2 DETAILS
Opponent: Carnegie Mellon University
Date: Friday – 6:30 p.m.
Location: Alpha Tennis and Fitness – Pittsburgh
Live Results: Link
All-Time Series: CMU leads 16-2
Last Played: Feb. 2, 2024 (SRU won 5-4)
 
SERIES HISTORY
While Carnegie Mellon owns a 16-2 record over Slippery Rock all-time, SRU has taken two of the last three matches in the series with a 4-3 victory in 2022 and a 5-4 triumph last season sandwiched around a 6-1 setback in 2023.
 
Athletes from The Rock and Tartans rosters are no stranger to one another as they routinely compete during the fall individual portion of the season in addition to the yearly team matches. Amaia Balaguer Brau and Nicole Kempton have had the most success against their CMU counterparts over their careers as Balaguer Brau holds a perfect 3-0 singles record while Kempton is 3-1 versus Tartan athletes.
 
SRU vs. CMU (Individual records)
Amaia Balaguer Brau (3-0)
2024-25: Divya Venkatarama (Won 8-2)
2024-25: Anika Joshi (Won 8-1)
2023-24: Danna Taylor (Won 6-2, 3-6, 6-3)
 
Nicole Kempton (3-1)
2024-25: Anika Joshi (Won 8-6)
2024-25: Joycie Lu (Lost 8-6)
2023-24: Ainika Hou (Won 8-2)
2023-24: Zoe Angell (Won 6-2, 6-4)
 
Alissia Kivi (1-0)
2024-25: Zoe Angell (Won 8-1)
 
Kempton / Kiki (Doubles / 2-0)
2024-25: Zoe Angell/Anna Chow (Won 6-3)
2024-25: Ainika Hou/Rachel Li (Won 6-1)
 
Tina Slovak (2-2)
2024-25: Manuela Van Cotthem (Lost 8-2)
2023-24: Simran Bedi (Won 8-3)
2023-24: Elaine Qian (Won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2)
2022-23: Anika Joshi (Lost 7-6, 6-4)
 
Georgie Lancaster (2-2)
2023-24: Anika Joshi (Won 8-7 (7-2))
2023-24: Anna Chow (Won 6-2, 6-3)
2022-23: Manuela Van Cotthem (Lost 4-6, 6-3, 12-10)
2021-22: Julieta Ruiz (Lost 8-5)
 
Dari Sakhanova (1-3)
2024-25: Zoe Angell (Won 8-4)
2023-24: Sophia Ho (Lost 8-4)
2023-24: Sarah Yang (Lost 6-0, 6-3)
 
ITA RANKINGS CHECK
Slippery Rock was well-represented on the initial individual national and Atlantic Region rankings released by the ITA in November.
 
Singles
Amaia Balaguer Brau
National: 7th
Atlantic Region: 1st
 
Alissia Kivi
Atlantic Region: 6th
 
Dari Sakhanova
Atlantic Region: 10th
 
Nicole Kempton
Atlantic Region: 11th
 
Tina Slovak
Atlantic Region: 20th
 
Doubles
Nicole Kempton / Alissia Kivi
National: 22nd
Atlantic Region: 2nd
 
Dari Sakhanova / Tina Slovak
Atlantic Region: 6th
 
Amaia Balaguer Brau / Georgie Lancaster
Atlantic Region: 9th
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 0-1
• PSAC West Record: 0-0
• Home Record: 0-0
• Away Record: 0-1
• Neutral Site Record: 0-0
• Streak: L1
• Last Five Matches: N/A
• Head Coach: Matt Meredith | 27th season (378-215, .637)
 
LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock opened the team portion of its 2024-25 season with a close 4-3 loss Feb. 8 at Youngstown State University (Results).
 
SCOUTING THE ROCK
• Four of the six athletes who were in SRU's singles lineup against Youngstown State enter the weekend with winning records led by Amaia Balaguer Brau, who is 9-4 overall and the seventh-ranked singles athlete in Division II.
 
• Nicole Kempton (5-3) and Alissia Kivi (6-3) represented SRU out of the second and third flights against YSU.
 
• Dari Sakhanova improved her overall record to 7-2 courtesy of a win out of the fourth flight last week. The victory marked her 72nd career win.  
 
• Tina Slovak (2-3) and Georgie Lancaster (3-4) rounded out The Rock's lineup against Youngstown State in the fifth and sixth flights, respectively, with Slovak earning a win and Lancaster dropping a close 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 decision.
 
• There is perhaps no better doubles team in the Atlantic Region than SRU's nationally ranked pairing of Kempton and Kivi. They are now 11-2 as a team following a first-flight win at Youngstown State.
 
• In their first outing as partners, Balaguer Brau and Slovak proved to be a formidable grouping as evidenced by a 7-5 win versus YSU in the second flight against their Division I opponents.
 
• Much like The Rock's second-flight entry, Lancaster and Sakhanova are also in the infant stages of their partnership as their match from the third flight against YSU was just the third time the two have teamed up over the last three seasons.
 
CARNEGIE MELLON PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 2-0
• UAA Record: 0-0
• Home Record: 1-0
• Away Record: 0-0
• Neutral Site Record: 1-0
• Streak: W2
• Last Five Matches: N/A
• Head Coach: Andrew Girard | 22nd season (343-137, .715)
 
LAST TIME OUT
Carnegie Mellon stayed perfect on the year with a 5-2 victory over Indiana University (Pa.) Feb. 8 at Alpha Tennis and Fitness (Results).  
 
SCOUTING THE TARTANS
• CMU, which finished the 2023-24 season 14-7 overall and advanced to the third round of the NCA Tournament, enters the Slippery Rock match with two nationally ranked singles athletes in No. 10 Ancele Dolensek and No. 24 Shelly Zinchenko.
 
• Dolensek, who won the ITA Southeast Regional championship in the fall, is 16-3 overall and 2-0 in dual matches. Zinchenko possesses a 12-3 overall mark and is 2-0 in dual matches. Victoria Gazda is also already at double-digit wins this season as well with an 11-2 mark.
 
• Sarah Yang, a mainstay in the Tartans lineup the last three seasons and a three-time NCAA qualifier, made her singles season debut against IUP as she earned a win in the first flight. Yang holds a 65-16 career singles record.
 
• In its first two dual matches of the year, CMU has used five separate doubles pairings with only Anna Chow and Rachel Li competing in both.
  
PROBABLE LINEUP (DUAL MATCH RECORD)
Singles
1-Sarah Yang (1-0)
2-Shelly Zinchenko (2-0)
3-Divya Venkatarama (0-1)
4-Ancele Dolensek (2-0)
5-Joycie Lu (0-1)
6-Victoria Gazda (2-0)
Doubles
1-Anna Chow / Rachel Li (0-2)
2-Dolensek / Venkatarama (1-0)
3-Zinchenko / Zoe Angell (1-0)
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock will play an exhibition match against Cleveland State University 3 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion in Cleveland.
 
 



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