Slippery Rock women’s tennis delivered a strong overall performance at the Bucknell Invitational over the weekend, winning 13 of 21 matches across singles and doubles competition. The outing featured several standout efforts, most notably from Nicole Kempton and Nadia Rodewald, who went a perfect 3-0 as a doubles pairing. Freshman Léane Ben Ammar also posted an undefeated doubles record, finishing 2-0 with wins over Franklin & Marshall and Indiana University (Pa.).
In singles play, Ben Ammar set the tone early by defeating Franklin & Marshall’s Ananya Parekh, 6–1, 6-1. Slippery Rock continued its early dominance with four straight victories, as Madison Warren, Lucia Garcia Cortes, Sophia van der Berg and Anna Poranski each secured wins over Kakie Colclough, Erin Joo, Sahara Ahmad and Sarah Miller. The run gave SRU a commanding start before Noemi Gordan suffered the team’s first singles loss, falling to Lea von Kozierowski, 6–3, 6–1.
Ben Ammar responded with another strong showing, earning a 6–3, 6–1 win over IUP’s Ifigeneia Kafka. Despite her victory, the Crimson Hawks claimed the remaining three singles matches, with Chia‑Ying Lu, Hannah Beitat and Elina Mondani defeating Warren, Rodewald and Garcia Cortes. Slippery Rock ultimately closed singles competition with a 6-4 record.
Kempton and Rodewald opened doubles action with a 6-3 win over Saint Francis’ Helena Lynn and Sophia Cunningham. SRU’s first doubles setback came when Gordon and Ben Ammar were defeated by Morgan Tuffs and Reagen Mangan, 6-3, but Garcia Cortes and Warren quickly answered with a dominant 6-0 win over Annaka Bruder and Julia Ritchey.
Against host Bucknell, Kempton and Rodewald continued their strong weekend with a 6-1 victory over Riley Jennings and Jordan Lee. Poranski and van der Berg dropped their match to Katherine Purpura and Isabella Massis, while Gordon and Ben Ammar fell to Summer Even‑Esh and Natalie Devrag. Garcia Cortes and Warren were also edged out by Cameron King and Mariana Shulman. Van der Berg and Poranski later added another win for SRU, defeating Tori Allen and Purpura, 6-4.
Slippery Rock closed the Invitational on a high note with a trio of doubles victories against Franklin & Marshall. Kempton and Rodewald defeated Zitong Yang and Chloe Monachelli, 6-3; Ben Ammar and Gordan earned a 6-2 win over Ananya Parekh and Lorena Saavedra; and Warren and Garcia Cortes capped the weekend with a 6-2 victory over Erin Joo and Sahara Ahmad.
Slippery Rock women’s tennis returns to action Oct. 3–4 when the team will travel to Carnegie Mellon for the second CMU Invite.
