SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's tennis team's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament run came up just short as The Rock lost an instant classic to No. 31 Indiana University (Pa.) in the championship match, 4-3, Friday at the Burt Reese Tennis Center on the campus of Bloomsburg University.
 
The championship bout between The Rock and IUP was the second match of the day for both teams. Due to inclement weather in the Bloomsburg area over the rest of the weekend, the decision was made to hold both the semifinal and final rounds of the tournament on Friday.
 
Slippery Rock and Indiana each earned 4-0 shutout victories in the semifinals with The Rock defeating host Bloomsburg and the Crimson Hawks beating East Stroudsburg University to set up the fourth consecutive championship match between SRU and IUP that ultimately went the way of Indiana.
 
SRU concludes the PSAC Tournament with a 13-9 overall record while Indiana improves to 16-6. As PSAC Tournament champions, IUP earns an automatic berth into the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
 
While The Rock were unable to capture a conference championship their season is far from finished as SRU is a near lock to earn an at-large bid into the national tournament for a seventh consecutive year.
 
Slippery Rock opened its marathon day at 10 a.m. by recording a 4-0 shutout victory in its PSAC Tournament semifinal match over the Huskies to advance to the afternoon championship match against the Crimson Hawks.
 
SRU locked down its spot in the finals after taking the doubles point from the Huskies with wins out of the first and second flights followed by three quick singles wins on the way to its 10th shutout of the year.
 
In doubles play, Amaia Balaguer Brau and Tina Slovak defeated Lia-Sophie Seele and Dasha Nakonechna, 6-0, followed by Nicole Kempton and Alissia Kivi – the 38th-ranked doubles team in the nation – beating Lexi Quackenbush and Nicole Ilkovic, 6-3.
 
The singles portion of the semifinals saw Kivi upend Ilkovic 6-2, 6-0 from the second flight followed by Balaguer Brau living up to her No. 44 national ranking with a 6-0, 6-3 victory from the top flight over Quackenbush.
 
Dari Sakhanova officially sent The Rock into the championship match when she earned a 6-3, 6-1 win against Nakonechna out of the fifth flight.
 
The Rock and Crimson Hawks began the championship match in the late afternoon. IUP got the early edge with the doubles point via wins out of the second and third flights where Lieselotte Hartlöhner and Annemiek Sterk bettered Slovak and Balaguer Brau (6-4) followed by a 6-2 win from Asel Calbay and Hannah Beitat against Sakhanova and Georgie Lancaster.
 
While IUP would capture the initial singles point by way of Dani Ramos' 6-1, 6-3 victory in the third flight over Kempton, any thoughts of Indiana breezing to a conference title were quickly put to rest.
 
Slippery Rock's comeback got started out of the second flight where Kivi earned 6-3, 6-4 victory against Ming Deewajee for what was the 22nd victory of her rookie year.
 
SRU then pulled even with IUP thanks to a hard-fought 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-3 win by Balaguer Brau over Hartlohner in first-flight action. Balaguer Brau, the reigning PSAC West Athlete of the Year and a strong contender to repeat the honor this season, has won 13 consecutive matches to improve to 26-8 in 2025.
 
Slovak promptly gave The Rock their first lead of the match at 3-2 when SRU's fourth-flight entry downed Beitat in 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4 fashion. A personal five-match winning streak has stretched Slovak's record out to 13-9 this year.
 
However, Slippery Rock was unable to finish off the impressive comeback as IUP staved off SRU's rally when it took the final two contested flights of the night in three sets to secure the PSAC championship.
 
Sterk first put the match in a 3-3 tie when she defeated Lancaster 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 out of the sixth flight followed by Calbay earning the match-clinching point with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 fifth-flight win over Sakhanova.
 
Slippery Rock will learn its NCAA Tournament fate when the selection committee unveils the official release of the 48-team field for the 2025 NCAA Tournament 8:30 p.m. May 5 on NCAA.com.
 




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