BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- The 44th-ranked Slippery Rock University women's tennis team lost a 5-0 decision vs. eighth-ranked California (Pa.)  Saturday morning in the championship match of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships.

The loss was The Rock's second in as many meetings this spring with their PSAC-Western Division rival and dropped the Green and White's season record to 19-5.

California, which won the PSAC championship for the fourth consecutive season, improved its season record to 21-5.




Overshadowed by the final score were two strong singles performances by The Rock's No. 1 and No. 2 players, senior Laura Handy and sophomore Sarah Lynch.

Handy and Lynch each had scored splits in the two first sets against nationally-ranked California players before the team match ended under the "race-to-5" format.

The conference runner-up honor was the second earned by The Rock in the last three seasons, as Saturday's duel was a rematch of the 2008 conference final match, which California also won by a 5-0 margin.

Both California and The Rock are assured of berths in the NCAA Division II playoffs that will start May 6. California is the No. 1-ranked team in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association' Atlantic Regional poll, while SRU is the No. 3 team in the region.

The Rock knocked off Bloomsburg, the No. 2 team in the region, by a 5-2 score in PSAC semifinal action Friday to earn its berth in Saturday's title match.

In the process, The Rock may have locked up a host role for the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament.

Veteran head coach Matt Meredith and his Rock women's tennis student-athletes will be idle from competition as they anxiously await the release of the NCAA tournament field on Wednesday.

Complete results of Saturday's title match were as follows:

Singles competition
1 -- Laura Handy (SRU) vs. Jutta Bornefeld 0-6, 6-4, unfinished
2 -- Sarah Lynch (SRU) vs. Anastassiya Zherdeva 6-4, 2-6, 1-0, unfinished
3 -- Dunja Drmac (SRU) vs. Alina Stanila 2-6, 0-4, unfinished
4 -- Chelsea Gibson (SRU) vs. Nina Kowalski 3-6, 1-4, unfinished
5 -- Jade Pondicas (CAL) def. Jessica Hillborn 6-4, 6-0
6 -- Axelle Fernandez (CAL) def. Casey Runyan 6-0, 6-0

Doubles competition
1 -- Bornefeld/Kowalski (C) def. Drmac/Handy 8-2
2 -- Stanila/Fernandez (C) def. Gibson/Hillborn 8-2
3 -- Pondicas/Zherdeva (C) def. Lynch/Janelle Krantz 8-4