SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - With a spot in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament championship match at stake, the Slippery Rock University women's tennis team will meet Bloomsburg University in a semifinal bout 10 a.m. Friday at the Burt Reese Tennis Center in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
In-match results will be provided by the SRU Women's Tennis program at the below link.
 
MATCH 21 DETAILS
Opponent: Bloomsburg
Date: Friday – 10 a.m.
Location: Burt Reese Tennis Center – Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Live Results: Link
All-Time Series: BU leads 18-17
Last Played: May 3, 2019 (SRU won 4-0)
 
PSAC TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The top three teams in the PSAC East and PSAC West standings qualified for the 2025 PSAC Tournament. The No. 2 seed in each division will host the third seed from its respective division in quarterfinal matches this week. The winners from those matches move on to cross over and play the top seed from the other division Friday in the PSAC Tournament semifinals at 10 a.m.
 
The semifinals and championship matches will be held at Bloomsburg University. The conference championship match is now scheduled to be played Friday at 4 p.m. due to inclement weather in the forecast Saturday. If SRU is to win its semifinal at 10 a.m., it will come back later in the day for the title match at 4 p.m.

Under PSAC Tournament rules, doubles and singles matches shall be played in a "Clinch-Clinch" format. Doubles competition will cease when a team point is clinched. Singles matches will cease when a team has clinched the match with four total points.
 
In the PSAC West, Indiana University (Pa.) earned the top seed in the division followed by The Rock as the second seed and California as the third seed. Bloomsburg is the top seed out of the PSAC East with East Stroudsburg University and Millesville University rounding out the top three seeds.
 
QUARTERFINAL RECAP
Both PSAC Tournament quarterfinal matches saw the higher seeded team advance. In the Western Division, Slippery Rock downed California, 4-0, while East Stroudsburg bested Millersville in a 4-0 decision.
 
With its win, East Stroudsburg moves on to face Indiana (Pa.) Friday in the other semifinal match.
 
PSAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals
#2W Slippery Rock def. #3W California (4-0)
#2E East Stroudsburg def. #3E Millesville (4-1)
BYES: Indiana (Pa.) / Bloomsburg
 
Semifinals
#2W Slippery Rock vs. #1E Bloomsburg (Friday – 10 a.m.)
#2E East Stroudsburg vs. #1W Indiana (Friday – 10 a.m.)
 
Finals (UPDATE - MOVED TO FRIDAY)
Friday at 4 p.m. – Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
 
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Slippery Rock enters the semifinals as one of the hottest teams in the region with six straight wins which has improved its record to 12-8 overall. The Rock's semifinal win over California marked the program's 10th postseason victory in the last three seasons. 
 
Bloomsburg earned a first-round bye in the PSAC Tournament after completing the regular season with a perfect 6-0 league record, and an overall mark of 13-2, to become the PSAC East regular season champions.
 
PSAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Slippery Rock is in its seventh consecutive trip to the PSAC Tournament. SRU has won three PSAC championships all-time with league titles coming in 1980, 1981 and 2003.
 
SRU has advanced to the conference championships finals in four of the last five seasons the event has been held with its most recent trip to final match coming a year ago in a 4-2 loss to Indiana (Pa.).
 
Bloomsburg has won 10 conference championships all-time – the second most in PSAC history behind California (12) – with its last conference crown coming in 2006.
 
Friday's match will serve as the eighth contest between The Rock and Bloomsburg in the PSAC Tournament with each team earning four wins previously including a 4-0 SRU victory in the 2019 PSAC Tournament semifinals.
 
Slippery Rock vs. Bloomsburg (PSAC Tournament)
2019: Slippery Rock 4 – Bloomsburg 0
2010: Slippery Rock 5 – Bloomsburg 2
2009: Bloomsburg 5 – Slippery Rock 3
2008: Slippery Rock 5 – Bloomsburg 1
2007: Bloomsburg 5 – Slippery Rock 3
2006: Bloomsburg 5 – Slippery Rock 2
2003: Slippery Rock 5 – Bloomsburg 2
2002: Bloomsburg 5 – Slippery Rock 2
 
A LOOK AT THE ATLANTIC REGION RANKINGS
• Slippery Rock remained locked in at third place in the latest batch of NCAA Atlantic Region rankings released Wednesday by the DII Women's Tennis Committee.
 
• There was very little movement in latest set of regional rankings compared to a week ago. The top seven spots were identical to the previous rankings with Charleston tabbed No. 1 followed by Indiana (Pa.), The Rock, Fairmont State, Salem, Shaw and Bloomsburg.
 
• California (Pa.) and Johnson C. Smith were the new entries into this week's poll in eighth and ninth place, respectively.
                                                                                                                   
• Conference Tournament champions from the PSAC, Mountain East Conference and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association as well as the next four highest ranked teams in the region at the end of year qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
 
• The NCAA will unveil the complete 48-team tournament field 8:30 p.m. May 5 on NCAA.com.
 
• No stranger to the postseason, Slippery Rock has qualified for the NCAA Tournament 21 times dating back to the 1995-96 season. More recently, SRU has earned a spot in the national tournament in each of the last six years the event has been held.
 
• The full set of NCAA regional rankings can be found HERE.
 
PRESSURE PLAYERS
With only one freshman in its standard lineup, Slippery Rock has a wealth of postseason experience up and down its roster. Six members of SRU's 2025 roster has competed in – and won – in the postseason already in their careers during either conference tournament or NCAA Tournament competition.
 
SRU Records in the Postseason (PSAC / NCAA Tournament)
• Amaia Balaguer Brau*: 5-1
• Dari Sakhanova: 5-4
• Georgie Lancaster: 3-1
• Tina Slovak: 3-4
• Nicole Kempton: 1-1
• Amaia Balaguer Brau / Tina Slovak: 1-0
• Georgie Lancaster / Dari Sakhanova: 1-0
* Matches at Saint Thomas Aquinas included.
 
STREAKING
With six consecutive wins, it has been nearly a calendar month since Slippery Rock last lost a match. As the impressive team run indicates, a multitude of individual athletes are on stellar winning streaks of their own.
 
Singles Winning Streaks
• Amaia Balaguer Brau: 10
• Nicole Kempton: 8
• Alissia Kivi: 7
• Dari Sakhanova: 5
• Georgie Lancaster: 5
• Tina Slovak: 4
 
Doubles Winning Streaks
• Amaia Balaguer Brau / Tina Slovak: 7
• Nicole Kempton / Alissia Kivi: 5
• Georgie Lancaster / Dari Sakhanova: 4
 
SERIES HISTORY
While Bloomsburg holds an 18-17 record over The Rock in the all-time series, SRU has taken its last nine matches against the Huskies with the most recent triumph being a 4-0 victory in the 2019 PSAC Tournament semifinals. While it's a limited sample size with just meetings in individual tournaments, no current Rock athlete has lost to Bloomsburg athletes in their careers.
 
Nicole Kempton (2-0)
2024-25: Alexis Quackenbush (Won - 6-2, 6-1)
2024-25: Nicole Ilkovic (Won - 6-3, 6-1)
 
Dari Sakhanova (1-0)
2024-25: Nicole Ilkovic (Won - 6-3, 6-4)
 
Alissia Kivi (1-0)
2024-25: Dasha Nakonechna (Won - 6-1, 6-1)
 
Georgie Lancaster (1-0)
2024-25: Dasha Nakonechna (Won - 6-4, 6-3)
 
Alissia Kivi / Nicole Kempton (2-0)
2024-25: Alexis Quackenbush/Jennifer McDonald (Won - 6-2)
2024-25: Jennifer McDonald/Alexis Quackenbush (Won - 6-1)
 
ITA RANKINGS
National Singles (April 30)
No. 44: Amaia Balaguer Brau (SRU)
 
National Doubles (April 30)
No. 38: Nicole Kempton / Alissia Kivi (SRU)
 
Regional Singles (Nov. 13)
No. 1: Amaia Balaguer Brau (SRU)
No. 6: Alissia Kivi (SRU)
No. 10: Dari Sakhanova (SRU)
No. 11: Nicole Kempton (SRU)
No. 20: Tina Slovak (SRU)
 
Regional Doubles (Nov. 13)
No. 2: Nicole Kempton / Alissia Kivi (SRU)
No. 6: Dari Sakhanova / Tina Slovak (SRU)
No. 9: Amaia Balaguer Brau / Georgie Lancaster (SRU)
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 12-8
• Atlantic Region Rankings: Third
• PSAC West Seed: No. 2
• Home Record: 4-1
• Away Record: 6-4
• Neutral Site Record: 2-3
• Streak: W6
• Last Five Matches: 5-0
• Head Coach: Matt Meredith | 27th season (390-222, .637)
 
SCOUTING THE ROCK
• Slippery Rock has earned the doubles point in 15 of its 20 matches this season. Leading The Rock's doubles contingent is the nationally ranked duo of Nicole Kempton and Alissia Kivi.
 
• Kempton and Kivi – currently the 38th-ranked team in Division II – enter Friday on a five-match winning streak and in possession of a 24-6 overall record and a 14-4 mark from the first flight.
 
• Amaia Balaguer Brau and Tina Slovak have been nearly flawless out of The Rock's second flight where the duo has compiled a 16-3 record. Only one of their losses in 2025 have come against a team from the Atlantic Region.
 
• Georgie Lancaster and Dari Sakhanova have come on strong as of late in No. 3 doubles action with five consecutive wins to boost their record comfortably above the .500 mark at 10-7.
 
• One of the top players in not only the Atlantic Region, but all of Division II, Balaguer Brau anchors The Rock's standard singles lineup.
 
• Ranked the No. 44 athlete in the country, Balaguer Brau is making a strong push towards repeating as PSAC West Athlete of the Year with a 24-8 overall singles record that's included a 15-5 dual match showing and a perfect 6-0 conference record in the regular season.
 
• One of the most promising rookies in the PSAC West, Kivi has enjoyed a stellar freshman season to date with a 20-7 overall record and a 13-3 tally out of the second flight. Kivi, who has won each of her last seven matches, is 5-1 against her PSAC West counterparts.
 
• Kempton's career-hgih eight-matching winning streak has bolstered her overall mark in 2024-25 to 18-8 and her dual match record to 13-6 (13-3 from the third flight).
 
• A trio of Rock veterans make up the back half of SRU's singles lineup. Typically Slippery Rock's fourth-flight entrant, Slovak is 12-9 overall and 11-6 in dual matches. Sakhanova, the newest member of SRU's 100-win club, has tallied a 19-9 overall record as a junior to go with an 11-5 record out of the fifth flight with Lancaster rounding out the group at 13-11 overall and 10-8 in dual matches.

BLOOMSBURG PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 13-2
• Atlantic Region Rankings: 7th
• PSAC East Seed: No. 1
• Home Record: 5-1
• Away Record: 6-0
• Neutral Site Record: 2-1
• Streak: W8
• Last Five Matches: 5-0
• Head Coach: Rebecca Helt
 
PROBABLE LINEUP (DUAL MATCH RECORD)
Singles
1-Lexi Quackenbush (5-7)
2-Nicole Ilkovic (9-3)
3-Jen McDonald (10-2)
4-Lia-Sophie Seele (11-1)
5-Dasha Nakonechna (7-4)
6-Lily Sierka (11-1)
Doubles
1-Quackenbush / Ilkovic (6-4)
2-Seele / Nakonechna (12-1)
3-McDonald / Alyssa Mazurek (5-1)
 
UP NEXT
If Slippery Rock were to beat Bloomsburg it would advance to the PSAC Tournament championship match 4 p.m. Friday, where SRU would face either East Stroudsburg or Indiana (Pa.).
 
If The Rock loses to Bloomsburg their season still likely isn't over as they will be heavy favorites to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
 
 

 
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