SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - With a spot in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament championship match at stake, the No. 28 Slippery Rock University women's tennis team will meet East Stroudsburg University in a semifinal bout 1 p.m. Friday at the Burt Reese Tennis Center in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live in-match results for The Rock's PSAC Tournament semifinal match will be provided at the link below.
 
MATCH 17 DETAILS
Opponent: East Stroudsburg University
Date: Friday – 1 p.m.
Location: Burt Reese Tennis Center – Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Live Results: Link
All-Time Series: SRU leads 10-0
Last Played: March1 2, 2017 (SRU won 9-0)
 
PSAC TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The top four teams in the PSAC East and PSAC West standings qualified for the 2026 PSAC Tournament. The first and second seeds from each division hosted the fourth and third seeds from the opposite division in the quarterfinals.
 
The semifinals and championship matches will be held at Bloomsburg University. The conference championship match is slated to take place Saturday.
 
Under PSAC Tournament rules, doubles (six-game set with a seven-point tiebreaker) and singles (best of three sets) 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 (Pa.) earned the top seed in the division followed by The Rock as the second seed, California (Pa.) as the third seed and Edinboro as the fourth seed. East Stroudsburg is the top seed out of the PSAC East with Bloomsburg, West Chester and Millersville rounding out the top four seeds.
 
QUARTERFINAL RECAP
The opening round of the 2026 PSAC Tournament went completely chalk in its results as the top two seeds from both the PSAC West and PSAC East claimed 4-0 victories.
 
PSAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals
#1W IUP def. #4E Millersville (4-0)
#1E East Stroudsburg def. #4W Edinboro (4-0)
#2W Slippery Rock def, #3E West Chester (4-0)
#2E Bloomsburg def. #3W California (4-0)
 
Semifinals
East Stroudsburg vs. Slippery Rock (Friday – 1 p.m.)
Bloomsburg vs. IUP (Friday – 1 p.m.)
 
Finals
1 p.m. Saturday – Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
 
Semifinals and championship match played at Bloomsburg
 
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Slippery Rock heads to Bloomsburg having won four straight matches which has improved its record to 13-3 overall and 13-2 against Division II competition. Six of The Rock's last 10 matches have been SRU shutouts.
 
East Stroudsburg brings a 13-match winning streak into Friday's semifinal matchup with The Rock. The Warriors' impressive stretch of play have improved their record to 19-4 overall and 12-4 in Division II competition.
 
PSAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Slippery Rock will be making its eighth 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 five of the last six seasons the event has been held with its most recent trip to final match coming a year ago in a 4-3 loss to Indiana (Pa.). Friday's match also serves as The Rock's seventh consecutive PSAC Tournament semifinal berth.
 
After missing the PSAC Tournament from 2019-2024 – and going 6-37 over that time – East Stroudsburg is making its second straight postseason while having compiled a 37-11 in the last two years. ESU's only conference championship came in 1979.
 
The Rock and Warriors have met in the PSAC Tournament one previous time – a 5-0 SRU win in 2003.
 
REGIONAL RANKINGS – WEEK 3
• The latest regional rankings are identical to last week's list with Indiana (Pa.) and Slippery Rock holding the top two spots followed in the top five by Charleston, Fairmont State and West Virginia Wesleyan. Rounding out Wednesday's regional rankings were Frostburg State, Shaw, East Stroudsburg and Bloomsburg.
                                                                                                                  
• 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 4 on NCAA.com.
 
• No stranger to the postseason, Slippery Rock has qualified for the NCAA Tournament 22 times dating back to the 1995-96 season. More recently, SRU won its regional and made a run to the Round of 16 in the 2025 NCAA Tournament for what was the program's seventh consecutive national tournament berth.
 
• While Slippery Rock is a near lock to qualify for the NCAA Tournament no matter the outcomes in the PSAC Tournament either as conference champions or with an at-large bid, East Stroudsburg likely needs to win the conference tournament and secure the league's automatic bid to prolong its season.
 
PRESSURE PLAYERS
Slippery Rock has a wealth of postseason experience up and down its roster. Six members of SRU's 2026 roster have competed in singles matches 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*: 9-3
• Dari Sakhanova: 7-6
• Tina Slovak: 5-4
• Alissia Kivi: 4-1
• Nicole Kempton: 4-2
• Nadia Rodewald: 0-0
* Matches at Saint Thomas Aquinas included
 
ROCK ON A ROLL
Several member of The Rock's roster will bring impressive winning streaks into Friday's semifinal match.
 
Singles Winning Streaks
Nadia Rodewald: 12
Alissia Kivi: 6
Amaia Balaguer Brau: 4
Nicole Kempton: 4
Doubles Winning Streaks
Tina Slovak / Amaia Balaguer Brau: 6
Dari Sakhanova / Nadia Rodewald: 4
 
SERIES HISTORY
While Slippery Rock is a perfect 10-0 against East Stroudsburg all-time, it has been nearly a decade since The Rock and Warriors last met in a dual match.
 
In what is somewhat of a rarity, members of both rosters have rarely crossed path in individual tournament play either as Amaia Balaguer Brau's 6-1, 6-1 victory over Ariel Kelsick in the opening round of this year's ITA Atlantic Region Championships is the lone singles match an active member of The Rock's roster has competed in against an ESU athlete.
 
ITA NATIONAL RANKINGS CHECK
Teams
No. 28: Slippery Rock
Singles
No. 74: Alissia Kivi (SRU)
Doubles
No. 41: Nicole Kempton / Alissia Kivi (SRU)
 
BY THE (ITF World Tennis) NUMBERS
The ITF World Tennis Number provides a global rating standard for tennis players using a 40-1 scale, with 40 being a beginner player and 1 being an elite professional. The scale is for all players, regardless of age, gender, or ability. Below are the singles WTN's for Slippery Rock and East Stroudsburg's athletes.
 
1. Amaia Balaguer Brau (SRU): 20.43
2. Alissia Kivi (SRU): 20.66
3. Nicole Kempton (SRU): 22.24
4. Nadia Rodewald (SRU): 22.97
5. Dari Sakhanova (SRU): 23.39
6. Ariel Kelsick (ESU): 23.55
7. Tina Slovak (SRU): 24.06
8. Jenna Kastell (ESU): 24.89
9. Lea Stefanovic (ESU): 25.54
10. Audrey Conover (ESU): 25.58
11. Alice Ehrenlechner (ESU): 27.02
12. Claudia Ermina (ESU): 27.42
13. Bega Gotor (ESU): 27.49
14. Anna Poranski (SRU): 28.28
 
CAREER WINS LIST CLIMBERS
Slippery Rock's quartet of Dari Sakhanova, Tina Slovak, Amaia Balaguer Brau and Nicole Kempton all enter the PSAC Tournament semifinals among the best athletes in program history in terms of career victories. All four have over 100 wins (singles+doubles) at SRU and rank in the top 16 in program history for wins.
 
SRU Career Wins List (5-14)
5. Gabriela del Val del Toro (2020-24): 141
t6. Dari Sakhanova (2022-Active): 137
t6. Jessica Hilborn (2006-10): 137
8. Lacey Cohen (2016-21): 129
9. Lois Page (2018-22): 126
10. Tina Slovak (2022-Active): 121
11. Amaia Balaguer Brau (2023-Active): 118
12. Sarah Lynch (2009-12): 116
13. Lauren Coggins (2010-14): 115
14. Nicole Kempton (2023-Active): 114
 
SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 13-3
• PSAC West Seed: 2nd
• Home Record: 4-0
• Away Record: 4-2
• Neutral Site Record: 5-1
• Last 5 Matches: 4-1
• Streak: W4
• Head Coach: Matt Meredith | 28th season (406-227, .640)
 
Last 5 Matches
April 27: vs. West Chester (W, 4-0)
April 22: vs. California (Pa.) (W, 6-1)
April 19: at No. 47 West Virginia Wesleyan (W, 5-2)
April 18: at No. 23 Charleston (W, 7-0)
April 15: at No. 32 IUP (L, 4-3)
 
SCOUTING THE ROCK
• Slippery Rock's three doubles pairings of Nicole Kempton / Alissia Kivi, Amaia Balaguer Brau / Tina Slovak and Nadia Rodewald / Dari Sakhanova have dominated the competition for the majority of the season, combining to earn the opening team point in 15 of 16 matches this year.
 
• The nationally ranked duo of Kivi and Kempton – which checked in at No. 41 in the most recent national doubles rankings released by the ITA – enter the ESU match at 19-11 overall and 10-5 in first flight dual bouts.
 
• Slovak and Balaguer Brau have strung together six consecutive wins, upping their record to a stellar 18-4 overall including a 13-3 showing out of the second flight.
 
• Rodewald and Sakhanova have been virtually unbeatable this year with just two losses in 23 contests. As part of their 21-2 overall record is a 13-1 effort in third-flight outings.
 
• Things haven't got much easier for The Rock's opposition when singles matches begin as five members of SRU's standard singles lineup all have at least 15 wins this season.
 
• Kivi is in the midst of a great sophomore season in which the 2024-25 PSAC West Freshman of the Year has gone 22-4 overall and 13-3 out of the second flight. She enters the ESU match on a six-match winning streak and as the No. 74 ranked singles athlete in Division II.
 
• Facing the toughest competition opponents have to offer, Balaguer Brau is 19-7 overall and 12-4 from the top spot in the singles rotation.
 
• Competing out of the third flight is Kempton, who is closing in on a second consecutive 20-win season at 18-6 overall (11-4 dual).
 
• Rodewald has won each of her last 12 finished matches and is on the cusp of placing her name alongside some of the best in Slippery Rock history as she is one victory shy of tying Chelsea Gibson and Samantha Blackburn for the ninth longest winning streak in documented program history. Her lengthy winning streak has improved her record to 17-6 overall (14-1 dual).
 
• Sakhanova is 15-6 on the year overall and 10-3 in dual matches primarily from the fifth flight (7-3). Rounding out the roster are Tina Slovak (6-7 overall, 5-6 from the fourth flight) and Anna Poranski (5-6 overall, 2-1 from the sixth flight).
 
EAST STROUDSBURG PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 19-4
• PSAC East Seed: 1st
• Home Record: 5-0
• Away Record: 9-3
• Neutral Site Record: 5-1
• Last 5 Matches: 5-0
• Streak: W13
• Head Coach: Troy Haas | 3rd season (38-24, .613)
 
Last 5 Matches
April 28: vs. Edinboro (W, 4-0)
April 22: at Bloomsburg (W, 5-2)
April 21: vs. Chestnut Hill (W, 4-3)
April 18: vs. Messiah (W, 5-2)
April 15: at West Chester (W, 4-3)
 
PROBABLE LINEUP (Last Match Order)
Singles
1-Lea Stefanovic (7-14)
2-Ariel Kelsick (16-5)
3-Jenna Kastell (14-4)
4-Alice Ehrenlechner (14-5)
5-Audrey Conover (16-6)
6-Theresa Bauer (12-3)
Doubles
1-Kelsick / Kastell (10-6)
2-Stefanovic / Bauer (12-3)
3-Nia Vivas Montoya / Bega Gotor (8-2)
 
UP NEXT
If Slippery Rock were to beat East Stroudsburg it would advance to the PSAC Tournament championship match 1 p.m. Saturday, where SRU would face either Bloomsburg or Indiana (Pa.). If The Rock loses to ESU 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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