SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team opens 2025 NCAA Tournament competition 1 p.m. Monday against Shaw University in a first-round match at the Maple Street Courts in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
 
LIVE SCORING
Live results for Monday's match will be available at the below link.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT – ROUND 1
Opponent: Shaw University
Date: Monday – 1 p.m.
Location: Maple Street Courts – Indiana, Pennsylvania
Live Results: Link
All-Time Series: SRU leads 1-0
Last Played: March 4, 2010 (SRU won 6-3)
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT SCORING
The NCAA Tournament will run in a dual-match format with three doubles teams followed by six singles matches. The doubles matches will be played as three, six-game pro sets with a seven-point tiebreaker at six-all. Singles matches will be run as six best-of-three sets matches. Teams that win two of the three doubles matches earn a point. Each singles match earns a team one point. Teams must win four or more points to win a match.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE
The NCAA Tournament is comprised of 48 teams, 20 automatic berths and 28 at-large selections, spanning eight regions. The teams will play a single-elimination tournament at 16 preliminary round regional sites next week with the champions from each regional location advancing to Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida May 21-25 to determine the 2025 national champion.
 
Overall, seven teams from the Atlantic Region qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The University of Charleston and Indiana University (Pa.) garnered automatic bids, and ultimately the top two seeds in the region, after winning the Mountain East Conference and Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournaments, respectively. The other automatic bid in the region when to Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament champions Shaw University, which is seeded sixth.
 
The at-large berths in the Atlantic Region went to third-seeded Slippery Rock, No. 4 Fairmont State University, No. 5 Salem University and No.7 Bloomsburg University.
 
As the No. 3 seed, Slippery Rock will face sixth-seeded Shaw in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Monday in Indiana, Pennsylvania. If victorious, Slippery Rock will advance to face the winner of the IUP-Bloomsburg match in the second round 1 p.m. Tuesday.
 
In the other Atlantic Region bracket, top-seeded Charleston awaits the winner of the Fairmont State-Salem first round match that will also be conducted on May 12.
 
SRU NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Slippery Rock will be making its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance all-time, the most of any team in the PSAC. SRU has now earned national tournament berths 16 times in the last 19 years under the direction of head coach Matt Meredith, who has been in charge of the program for 20 of The Rock's NCAA Tournament appearances overall.
 
SRU has won three regional championships (2010, 2008, 2003). The Rock's best showing in the NCAA Tournament came in 2010 when they advanced to the national quarterfinals before falling to Lynn. Overall, Slippery Rock has won 15 matches in the NCAA Tournament all-time.
 
A year ago, Slippery Rock won its first-round match via a 4-0 decision against Millersville before falling to IUP, 4-2, in the second round.
 
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Slippery Rock earned its tournament bid after a 2025 season in which it went 13-9 overall, but more importantly 12-5 against Division II opponents and a near perfect 5-1 in PSAC West competition while advancing to the championship match of the PSAC Tournament for a fourth consecutive year.
 
Shaw has established itself as the premiere program in the CIAA after winning seven consecutive conference titles, earning the corresponding NCAA Tournament berths that come along with the wins all the while posting an overall record of 119-53 (.692) since 2016-17. However, the Bears' regular season and CIAA Tournament success has not translated to the NCAA Tournament as Shaw has not gotten out of the first round in any of the seven appearances.
 
SERIES HISTORY
SRU earned a 6-3 victory over Shaw on March 3, 2010 in the only prior meeting between The Rock and Bears.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Slippery Rock had its comeback bid fall just short in 4-3 loss to Indiana (Pa.) in the PSAC Tournament championship match. The loss snapped a seven-match SRU winning streak in which all the victories occurred via shutout.
 
• Shaw downed Johnson C. Smith, 4-0, to win the CIAA Tournament and stretch the Bears' winning streak to six matches.
 
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*: 7-1
• Dari Sakhanova: 6-5
• Georgie Lancaster: 3-2
• Alissia Kivi: 2-0
• Tina Slovak: 4-4
• Nicole Kempton: 1-2
• Amaia Balaguer Brau / Tina Slovak: 2-1
• Nicole Kempton / Alissia Kivi: 1-0
• Georgie Lancaster / Dari Sakhanova: 1-1
* Matches at Saint Thomas Aquinas included.
 
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: 13-9
• Atlantic Region Seed: No. 3
• Home Record: 5-2
• Away Record: 7-3
• Neutral Site Record: 1-4
• Streak: L1
• Last Five Matches: 4-1
• Head Coach: Matt Meredith | 27th season (391-223, .637)
 
SCOUTING THE ROCK
From top to bottom, Slippery Rock's 2025 roster has proven more than capable of rattling off impressive victories in all six singles flights.
 
• Leading the way for Slippery Rock is Amaia Balaguer Brau. The 2024 PSAC West Athlete of the Year and current 44th-ranked singles athlete in Division II has followed up last year's great campaign with another dominant showing in 2025.
 
• The Rock's junior standout enters the NCAA Tournament with a 26-8 overall record that includes a 17-5 mark out of the first flight. Balaguer Brau is in the midst of a 13-match winning streak. In documented program history, Balaguer Brau has already compiled the fifth-highest single-season win total while her winning streak is the eighth longest by a Rock athlete.
 
• Alissia Kivi has become the latest in a long line of freshman standouts at Slippery Rock as the rookie has amassed a 22-7 overall record. She's registered nine straight wins to improve her record in second flight matches to 15-3 in the process.
 
• Nicole Kempton built on a 2024 year in which she was tabbed the PSAC West Freshman of the Year by producing an 18-9 overall record as a sophomore. Kempton is 13-4 when playing out of the third flight this year.
 
• Tina Slovak has enjoyed a strong finish to her junior year with five consecutive wins that have bolstered her personal record to 13-9 overall and 10-6 from the fourth flight. With 95 career wins, Slovak is the next in line to join The Rock's exclusive 100-win club. 
 
• SRU's third 20-match winner competes out of the fifth flight where junior Dari Sakhanova has played her way to a 12-6 record from the spot which has stretched her overall record to 20-10.
 
• Another veteran in the back half of Slippery Rock's singles lineup is senior Georgie Lancaster, who has gone 13-12 overall and 9-9 in the sixth flight in her final year of collegiate competition.
 
• Just as impressive as its singles lineup is Slippery Rock's doubles pairings which have combined to take the opening point in 16 of 22 matches this season.
 
• The success starts in the first flight where Kivi and Kempton have partnered to go 25-6 overall, including a 15-4 dual match record. The Rock's top team is currently ranked 38th in the nation.
 
• Things do not get much easier for SRU's opposition further down the lineup as Balaguer Brau and Slovak are 17-4 overall with Lancaster and Sakhanova checking in at 10-8.
 
SHAW PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 17-7
• Atlantic Region Seed: No. 6
• Home Record: 5-3
• Away Record: 6-4
• Neutral Site Record: 6-0
• Streak: W6
• Last Five Matches: 5-0
• Head Coach: Sunday Enitan
 
PROBABLE LINEUP (DUAL MATCH RECORD) *
*Full individual results missing from several matches on ITA website.
 
Singles
1-Prerana Koirala (5-9)
2-Anja Antonijevic (7-5)
3-Serena Teluwo (9-3)
4-Marija Ristanovic (9-6)
5-Eni Anic (5-3)
6-Camilla Angiani-Mortino (9-1)
Doubles
1-Antonijevic / Ristanovic (11-5)
2-Koirala / Teluwo (12-5)
3-Angiani-Mortino / Anic (7-3)
 
UP NEXT
A win against Shaw sends The Rock to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive year for match against the winner of the IUP-Bloomsburg match 1 p.m. Tuesday.
 
 
 

 
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