Slippery Rock women’s tennis rolled through the four-day Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Atlantic Region Championships from Oct. 2-5.
Alissia Kivi and Nicole Kempton opened day one for The Rock in the doubles bracket with a match against West Chester University’s Delaney Tingle and Alexandra Cave in an 8-2 fashion.
Dari Sakhanova and Nadia Rodewald had a match of their own in the doubles Round of 36 when they fell to Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Maria Moskaltsova and Ifigeneia Kafka.
Kivi and Kempton, with win after win, advanced all the way to the finals on October 5. By recording three separate victories across three days, defeating pairs from West Chester, the University of Charleston, and IUP, they solidified their position as second seed in the bracket.
The White and Green’s pair took the opening set 6-2, but Charleston’s group pulled out back-to-back wins (7-6 and 12-10) to take the championship.
Amaia Balaguer Brau started off strong in the singles Round of 64 by defeating Ariel Kelsick of East Stroudsburg University 6-1.
Kempton, Kivi, and Dari Sakhanova all took wins in their matches as well.
The only loss for The Rock in day one came when Nadia Rodewald was edged by the University of Charleston.
Balaguer Brau, Kempton, Kivi and Sakhanova made it all the way to the Round of 16. Kivi and Kempton both won their singles matches, defeating California University of Pennsylvania and Frostburg State University.
Unfortunately, their momentum stopped there when they both dropped in their quarterfinals matches.
Slippery Rock women’s tennis take a short break before they return to action this Saturday on their home courts when they take on Bowling Green University.
