ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – Slippery Rock University earned its first-ever berth in an NCAA Division II women's tennis national quarterfinal match Wednesday when it recorded a 5-3 win over St. Cloud State (Minn.) in Round of 16 competition at Sanlando Park.

The win improved the 34th-ranked Rock's season record to 22-5 and moved the Green and White into a 9 a.m. quarterfinal match Thursday against fourth-ranked Lynn (Fla.).

Lynn (24-3) defeated 12th-ranked Abilene Christian (Texas) by a 5-3 score in other Round of 16 action Wednesday.

St. Cloud, the No. 50 team in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division II national ranking, ended its season with a 23-7 record.

Sophomore Dunja Drmac recorded the duel-ending point for The Rock when she closed out a three-set No. 3 singles victory. She lost the first set 6-4 but came back to score a 7-5 win in the second set and then roared to a 6-1 win in the third set.

The Rock, which played in the Round of 16 competition for the third time in school history, won two of the three doubles matches to take a 2-1 lead into singles action.

Senior Laura Handy won the No. 1 singles match by straight-set scores of 6-4, 6-1 and junior Chelsea Gibson reigned in a three-set match at No. 4 (6-2, 2-6, 6-4) to push SRU to a 4-1 lead.

The Huskies then scored back-to-back wins in the No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches to trim the team score to 4-3 before Drmac scored the decisive point for The Rock.

Sophomore Sarah Lynch was leading by a 5-3 score in the third set of the No. 2 singles match, the only duiel still on the court when the final team point was scored.

Like Drmac, Lynch lost the first set of her singles match (6-2) before bouncing back to record a 7-5 win in the second set and force the third and final set.

Lynch and freshman Janelle Krantz scored the first Rock point with an 8-3 win in the No. 3 doubles match.

Handy and Drmac teamed up for a hard-fought 8-5 win in the No. 1 doubles match to put SRU up 2-0 in the team score before St. Cloud State won the No. 2 doubles match by an 8-6 margin.

Complete results of Wednesday's Round of 16 match included:

DOUBLES
#1 – Laura Handy / Dunja Drmac (SRU) def. Jacquelyn Doll/Kelly Freese 8-5
#2 – Catarina Franca/Kayla Lenz (SCSU) def. Chelsea Gibson / Jessica Hilborn 8-6
#3 – Sarah Lynch / Janelle Krantz (SRU) def. Samantha Boushek/Tanya Halloran 8-3

SINGLES
#1 – Handy (SRU) def. Doll 6-4, 6-1
#2 – Lynch (SRU) vs. Freese (SCSU) unfinished (Lynch leading 2-6, 7-5, 5-3)
#3 – Drmac (SRU) def. Franca 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
#4 – Gibson (SRU) def. Lenz 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
#5 – Boushek (SCSU) def. Hilborn 6-2, 6-1
#6 – Halloran (SCSU) def. Casey Runyan 7-5, 6-4

In other Round of 16 matches Wednesday, top-ranked Armstrong Atlantic (Ga.) blanked No. 20 Northeastern State (Okla.) 5-0, second-ranked Barry (Fla.) shut out unranked Nebraska-Kearney 5-0, third-ranked BYU-Hawaii beat No. 10 Clayton State (Ga.) 5-1, sixth-ranked California (Pa.) whitewashed No. 28 Grand Valley State (Mich.) 5-0, ninth-ranked Hawaii Pacific beat No. 35 Concordia (N.Y.) 5-1 and 16th-ranked Northwood (Mich.) beat No. 44 Queens (N.Y.) 5-1.

In addition to The Rock-Lynn duel, Thursday's semifinal matchups have Barry (22-3) taking on Armstrong Atlantic (30-0), California (24-5) meeting Hawaii Pacific (20-4) and BYU-Hawaii (30-0) facing Northwood (18-1).

The winner of Thursday's match between The Rock and Lynn will meet either BYU-Hawaii or Northwood in a semifinal match Friday.

Semifinal matches will be played at 9 a.m. Friday with the national championship match set for 9 a.m. Saturday.