ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst women's tennis team advanced in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament with a 5-0 quarterfinal victory over Slippery Rock on Tuesday at the Pennbriar Athletic Club. The Lakers are the two-seed out of the PSAC West Division while SRU is No. 3. Both teams are ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association regional rankings: MU is No. 2 and the Rock is fifth.
The Lakers won all three doubles matches after trailing in each. They kept that momentum rolling into singles play, securing the two points they needed to clinch while being ahead in each of the other four matches. The match ended when
Ivona Plecevic won at No. 4 singles.
Plecevic and
Athina Tsagkaraki got Mercyhurst on the board with their 8-6 victory at third doubles over Lauren Fadden and Allie Welch.
The other two Laker pairs teams -- both of which are regionally-ranked -- recorded 9-7 victories against regionally-ranked opponents. At No. 2 pairs,
Kayla Frost and
Adrianna Jeffress (No. 6 Atlantic doubles) defeated Viola Lugmayr and Olivia Warner (No. 9 Atlantic doubles). Then, on the top flight,
Saioa Gomez de Segura and
Adina Spahalic (No. 4 Atlantic doubles) battled back from a 6-1 deficit for their victory against Carla Corrochano and Lacey Cohen (No. 7 Atlantic doubles).
In singles action, Gomez de Segura put Mercyhurst on the brink of victory with a win at No. 1 singles. The 18th-ranked player in NCAA Division II, and No. 1 in the Atlantic, defeated Cohen (No. 11 Atlantic singles), 6-0, 6-3. That set the stage for Plecevic's clincher against Warner, 6-1, 6-0.
Gomez de Segura extended her individual win streak to 21. Singles records for each player are as follows: Gomez de Segura (35-2), Frost (25-6), Jeffress (28-4), Plecevic (24-5), Spahalic (22-3) and Tsagkaraki (21-4).
With the win, Mercyhurst advanced to the PSAC Tournament semifinals and will take on Bloomsburg, which is the top-seed out of the PSAC East Division. The other semifinal will feature the top-seed out of the PSAC West, Indiana (Pa.), and either East Stroudsburg or West Chester out of the PSAC East.
The PSAC Tournament semifinals and finals will take place Apr. 20-21 in Bloomsburg.
Mercyhurst 5, Slippery Rock 0
| Singles competition |
| 1. S. Gomez de Segura (MER-W) def. Lacey Cohen (ROCK-W) 6-0, 6-3 |
| 2. Kayla Frost (MER-W) vs. Carla Corrochano (ROCK-W) 6-2, 3-2, unfinished |
| 3. Adrianna Jeffress (MER-W) vs. Viola Lugmayr (ROCK-W) 6-1, 1-3, unfinished |
| 4. Ivona Plecevic (MER-W) def. Olivia Warner (ROCK-W) 6-1, 6-0 |
| 5. Adina Spahalic (MER-W) vs. Lauren Fadden (ROCK-W) 5-4, unfinished |
| 6. Athina Tsagkaraki (MER-W) vs. Allie Welch (ROCK-W) 6-1, 4-1, unfinished |
| Match Notes |
| Slippery Rock 12-12 |
| Mercyhurst 21-1 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,4) |
| PSAC Tournament Quarterfinal - (2-W) Mercyhurst vs (3-W) Slippery Rock |
