Following a 3-4 loss to the University of Charleston on April 5, the White and Green displayed near-flawless execution to conclude their regular season, culminating in a 7-0 win at California University (Pa.) on Wednesday.
Amaia Balaguer Brau and Tina Slovak got the match started with a 6-0 win over the Vulcan’s Diletta Maria Mungo and Garance Laforet in the first doubles flight. Dari Sakhanova and Georgie Lancaster followed with another 6-0 against Cal U’s Lilli Schreiber and Anika Hedrich.
The good numbers only continued to flow for The Rock.
Alissia Kivi and Nicole Kempton earned their first-flight doubles victory 6-4 after SRU had already claimed the doubles point.
The duo now slots in as the 35th-ranked doubles pairing in NCAA DII after the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) most recent poll. The two have five straight doubles wins, aligned with SRU’s overall impressive five-game stretch.
All three of The Rock’s doubles teams currently hold at least a four-match winning streak.
Kempton got the first singles victory out of the third flight, taking down Leandra Guldimann 6-2, 6-1. Lancaster and Sakhanova followed suit with 6-1, 6-2 and 6-0, 6-2 wins respectively.
Sakhanova’s eighth win out of her last nine matches served as the match-clinching flight. Match already decided, The Rock was not done, earning wins in their remaining three flights with each being closer than the last.
Slovak’s earned her fourth-flight win 6-0, 6-4 over Laforet. Kivi was pushed harder in her second set after taking the first 6-2, though she still came away with a 7-5 win.
Balaguer Brau’s first-flight matchup with Teddi Isherwood was the only three-set singles flight of the afternoon. Trouble struck again in the second set, though this time the Vulcans’ representative was able to even the score. Balaguer Brau secured the shutout after finishing off Isherwood 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
With the victory, the White and Green advanced to 11-8 overall, with a more impressive 5-1 conference record.
Following their 3-4 home defeat against Indiana University (Pa.) on March 29, The Rock rattled off five consecutive 7-0 conference wins. The Rock is 6-1 since that date, with every match being a 7-0 victory excepting the loss to the University of Charleston.
The win bodes well for SRU who now looks forward to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships in a quick-turnaround rematch with California University. This time though, SRU holds the advantage of playing on their home courts, as the first-round playoff game is set for next Tuesday on the SRU Tennis Courts at 4 p.m.
