GREENSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team defeated No. 31 Indiana University (Pa.), 4-3, Tuesday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Greensburg Racquet Club in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
 
The hard-fought victory sends Slippery Rock to the NCAA Tournament's Round of 16 for the fourth time in program history overall, and first since the 2009-10 season.
 
The third time was the charm for Slippery Rock, which was on the losing end of 4-3 decisions against the nationally ranked Crimson Hawks both in the regular season as well the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament finals before avenging both losses with Tuesday's NCAA Tournament victory.  
 
The Rock continues its quest for a national championship with a 15-9 overall record while IUP ends its year at 17-7. Slippery Rock will learn its opponent in the Round of 16, as well as its official seed, Wednesday afternoon.
 
SRU found itself playing from behind for just the sixth time in its 24-match season after Indiana captured the doubles point with wins out of the first and third flights.
 
Rock veteran Dari Sakhanova began SRU's comeback bid by drawing the first point in the singles portion of the match as the junior upended Asel Calbay 6-3, 6-3 out of the fifth flight for what was her 21st victory of the season.
 
Sakhanova's win turned out to be the lone two-set singles contest of the match.
 
IUP re-gained its lead in the next completed match with Lieselotte Hartlöhner edging 44th-ranked Amaia Balaguer Brau in the top flight 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 only for Tina Slovak to pull The Rock back even with the Crimson Hawks thanks to a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 triumph over Hannah Beitat in fourth-flight play.
 
Slovak's victory, the 97th of her career, stretched her winning streak to a team-best six matches.
 
However, Ming Deewajee tilted the momentum back to IUP once again following a 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 win against Alissia Kivi in the second flight, meaning Indiana needed to win just one of the remaining two flights to secure what would have been the program's 15th consecutive victory over The Rock.
 
Undeterred, Nicole Kempton – the 2024 PSAC West Freshman of the Year who has improved upon a stellar rookie season with a breakout sophomore campaign – grabbed another point for The Rock by way of her 6-7, 7-6, 6-0 comeback victory against Dani Ramos in the third flight.
 
With the win, Kempton joins Balaguer Brau (27), Kivi (23) and Sakhanova (21) with 20 overall singles victories in 2025.
 
The clutch victory by Kempton meant that the match – and the season – came down to the sixth flight contest between Georgie Lancaster and Annemiek Sterk.
 
Due to court availability at the Greensburg Racquet Club, the Lancaster-Sterk bout did not begin until the first singles match was completed. When it did get underway Lancaster, The Rock's lone senior, edged her way to a 7-6 opening-set win before Sterk responded with a 7-5 victory of her own to force a third set.
 
True to form to how the match started, Lancaster and Sterk again traded the advantage back-and-forth, playing to a 6-6 tie only for Lancaster to outlast her veteran counterpart for a historic 7-4 victory which clinched The Rock's team win and placed this year's squad in rare company inside the program alongside the 2002-03, 2007-08 and 2009-10 SRU teams to have made it out of the regional bracket.  
 
Lancaster is in the midst of a great end to her collegiate career with seven wins in her last eight completed matches.
 
Regardless of opponent, The Rock's next match will occur May 21 at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida with a start time of either 8 a.m. or 11 a.m.





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