SOUTH PARK, Pa. - In a meeting between two of the top programs in the Atlantic Region, the Slippery Rock University women's tennis team lost a close 4-3 match to No. 40 University of Charleston Saturday at the Glen Creek Tennis Club.
 
Saturday's setback drops The Rock's record to 6-8 overall while the nationally ranked Golden Eagles improve to 14-4.
 
Charleston earned the doubles point courtesy of wins out of the first and third flights.
 
Slippery Rock opened the match by claiming the second flight doubles bout in impressive 6-1 fashion as Amaia Balaguer Brau and Tina Slovak downed Michelle Connor and Sofiia Krasikova. Slovak and Balaguer Brau have now won three straight matches to improve their record to 11-3 on the year.
 
UC answered with a 6-1 victory of its own from the third flight where Harriet Glaves and Riva Hondiashvili bettered Dari Sakhanova and Georgie Lancaster followed by a narrow 7-5 victory by Sara Martinez and Filippa Larsson over Nicole Kempton and Alissia Kivi in the top flight to give Charleston the all-important first team point of the evening.
 
The first flight contest featured two nationally ranked teams: Martinez and Larsson entered the contest as the No. 41 doubles team in Division II while Kempton and Kivi were slotted 45th in the country.
 
The singles portion of the match saw The Rock claim the first two points by way of wins out of the third and first flights.
 
Kempton registered a quick 6-2, 6-1 win from the third slot against Connor while Balaguer Brau beat Martinez in a 7-5, 6-4 decision.
 
The victory pushes Kempton's overall record to 13-8 including an 8-3 showing from the third flight. Meanwhile, Balaguer Brau – who was 27th in the most recent set of Division II singles rankings – is on a five-match winning streak which has improved her record to 17-8 overall.
 
Slippery Rock crept closer to capturing a comeback team victory when Kivi posted a gutsy 7-5, 6-4 win from the second flight against Krasikova. The Rock's top freshman is now 15-7 in singles play in 2025.
 
However, the Golden Eagles held off SRU's singles surge by recording the final three points of the match en route to the 4-3 win.
 
Glaves was a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Lancaster from the sixth flight followed by a pair of three-set victories by Larsson against Slovak (6-3, 5-7, 7-5) in the sixth flight and Hondiashvilli versus Sakhanova (6-1, 4-6, 6-2) in the deciding fifth-flight bout.
 
Slippery Rock will close out the home portion of its 2025 schedule when it hosts Seton Hill University for a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division match 4:30 p.m. April 9 at the SRU Tennis Courts.



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