CLEVELAND - The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team earned its first victory of the season with a 4-3 road win Wednesday over Cleveland State University at the Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion.
 
After opening the dual match portion of the year with a pair of 4-3 losses, Slippery Rock (1-2) was on the right side of the one-point decision against the Vikings (3-7), a Division I team competing out of the Horizon League.
 
With only four Cleveland State athletes in uniform Wednesday, Slippery Rock began the match already assured of two default singles points and needing to earn only one victory from the top two doubles flights to gain the team doubles point.
 
That win would come from the second flight where Tina Slovak and Amaia Balaguer Brau defeated Jenna Redmile and Filippa Frogner by way of a 6-2 triumph. Slovak and Balaguer Brau are a perfect 3-0 as a team this season.
 
Following the win by Balaguer Brau and Slovak the No. 1 doubles flight match between The Rock's Nicole Kempton / Alissia Kivi and CSU's Sima Heren / Tereze Vevere was halted with the score tied 4-4.
 
The Rock's doubles point – and its two default singles points already in tow – meant SRU needed to take one of the four singles bouts to earn the team victory over its Division I counterparts.
 
The match-clinching point came out of the third set where Kivi bested Redmile 6-4, 6-1. In addition to forming the 22nd-ranked doubles team in the nation with Kempton, Kivi has also compiled a 7-4 overall singles record early in her freshman season.
 
Cleveland State did earn victories in the other three completed matches on the day. Heren defeated Balaguer Brau in the first flight (6-3, 6-2). Vevere was a 7-5, 6-2 winner against Kempton in second-flight competition while Frogner defeated Sakhanova 6-3, 6-4 out of the fourth flight.
 
Slippery Rock will play its third Division I opponent of the season 6 p.m. Saturday when it meets Bucknell University at the Westwood Racquet Club in Erie, Pennsylvania.




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