CHARLESTON, W. Va. - The No. 45 Slippery Rock University women's tennis team went on the road in a hostile environment Saturday to earn an impressive 7-0 shutout over 23rd-ranked University of Charleston at the Schoenbaum Courts in Charleston, West Virginia.
 
The Rock's road victory pushed SRU's record to 10-3 overall, while the Golden Eagles dropped to 12-6 in the battle of nationally ranked teams.
 
Saturday's victory will pay huge dividends when it comes to boosting Slippery Rock's already impressive NCAA Tournament resume as Charleston is likely to be one of the top teams in the Atlantic Region in next week's regional rankings along with The Rock and Indiana University (Pa.).
 
Additionally, Saturday's result marked just the second time this season that Charleston has been shutout – the first came in a 4-0 setback against Lynn as part of a match that was played to a clinch situation with three singles flights left unfinished.
 
The Rock earned the first point of Saturday's contest thanks to its second and third doubles teams that each captured crucial victories.
 
In the opening recorded result of the day, Tina Slovak and Amaia Balaguer Brau posted a 6-4 win against Viola Hirzberger and Vanessa Mueller. Slovak and Balaguer Brau have now rattled off three straight wins to improve their record to 15-4 overall (10-3 dual match).
 
Charleston then earned a win from the top singles flight where No. 15 Sara Martinez and Sofiia Krasikova edged The Rock's 33rd-ranked team of Alissia Kivi and Nicole Kempton, 6-4.
 
However, Slippery Rock's third doubles flight pairing of Dari Sakhanova and Nadia Rodewald secure the team doubles point for SRU when the duo downed Michelle Connor and Riva Hondiashvili in 7-6 fashion.
 
Sakhanova and Rodewald have now claimed wins in 18 of their first 20 matches as a tandem, including in 10 of 11 dual matches. The win by Sakhanova and Rodewald set the tone for Slippery Rock through the remainder of the day.
 
Kempton turned in SRU's first singles victory of the contest by way of a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Mueller from the third flight. Her latest win gives Kempton a 15-6 record. Slovak continued The Rock's run via a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 besting of Connor.
 
In a meeting of two of the top athletes in the Atlantic Region, Balaguer Brau clinched the team victory for The Rock via an impressive 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 comeback victory against Martinez, who was ranked 71st in the latest ITA national singles rankings. The win stretched Balaguer Brau's record to 16-7 overall and 9-4 in dual matches.
 
With the team result already assured, the day ended with Rodewald posting her 10th straight win thanks to a 7-5, 6-4 showing against Hirzberger followed by Kivi downing Krasikova (2-6, 7-6, 6-4) and Sakhanova defeating Hondiashvili (2-6, 7-6, retired).
 
At 19-4, Kivi is now closing in on being the first Rock athlete this season to earn 20 singles wins. Sakhanova meanwhile possess a Rock solid 14-5 record of her own.
 
Slippery Rock concludes its weekend road trip 1 p.m. Sunday at West Virginia Wesleyan College.





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