SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- The 44th-ranked Slippery Rock University women's tennis team will host Mercyhurst at 3:30 p.m. today on SRU's outdoor courts in a quarterfinal match of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships.

The Rock is competing in the conference championships for the fifth straight season and ninth time in the last 10 seasons.

SRU, the PSAC-West runner-up, takes a 17-4 overall record into today's match while Mercyhurst, the No. 3 finisher in this spring's division competiton, owns a best-ever 19-7 record.

The Rock defeated the Lakers by an 8-1 score in the teams' regular-season duel April 1 in Erie.

The winner of the Rock-Mercyhurst match will advance to the semifinal round and face PSAC-Eastern Division champion Bloomsburg (13-3) in an 11 a.m. match Friday on the Huskies' home courts.

Today's other quarterfinal match has PSAC-East #3 West Chester (12-7) traveling to PSAC-East #2 Kutztown (9-9). The winner of that match will meet PSAC-West champion California (19-5) in a semifinal match, also at 11 a.m. Friday.

The winners of Friday's semifinal matches will duel at 9 a.m. Saturday in the conference finals.

The conference tournament could be a factor in determining which teams earn berths in the NCAA Division II playoffs that start May 6.

California, Bloomsburg and SRU are ranked 1-2-3 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association regional rankings that will ultimately determine the participants in the NCAA tournament. Kutztown is ranked sixth in the regional poll and Mercyhurst eighth.

The top eight teams in the final regional poll will earn berths in the NCAA tournament.

The Rock is all but assured of an NCAA berth based on its regular-season success. SRU is 7-2 against the top 10 teams in the region with wins also over No. 5 West Virginia Wesleyan, No. 6 Kutztown, No. 8 Mercyhurst and co-No. 10 Shaw (N.C.). The only regional rivals to beat SRU this season are California (8-1) and Bloomsburg (5-4), the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the regional poll.

There is a possibility, if SRU were to beat Mercyhurst and Bloomsburg and reach the PSAC finals, The Rock could be selected as a host site for first- and second-round matches in the NCAA tournament.

The Rock has appeared in each of the last four NCAA tournaments and advanced to the second round a year ago before it lost a 5-3 decision at Bloomsburg.

Should SRU not be selected as a host site for first- and second-round NCAA tournament action, today's match would mark the home finale for three Rock seniors: Laura Handy, Jessica Hilborn and Casey Runyan.

That trio has been part of a Rock program that, in addition to appearing in four straight conference and NCAA tournaments, has won 84 of 103 dual matches since the fall of 2006.