Results

INDIANA, PA - Emilia Osborne (Leighton Buzzard, United Kingdom/Cedars ) had the deciding three-set win at fifth singles as IUP defeated Slippery Rock 5-3 in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Team Tennis Championships on Tuesday at the Maple Street Courts.

The Crimson Hawks now advance to the semifinals in Bloomsburg as they take on the host Huskies, the East's top seed, on Friday at noon. 

IUP got on top early with an 8-0 win in the number two doubles spot as Tanya Timko (Cannonsburg, PA/Chartiers-Houston) and Emilia Osborne (Leighton Buzzard, United Kingdom/Cedars ) easily defeated Elisabeth Yetiskul and Lauren Coggins.

The Rock then came back with a close 8-6 win at number one when Sarah Lynch and Dunja Drmac beat Tabtip Louhabanjong (Krabi, Thailand/West Anchorage (AK)) and Katie Eaton (Halesowen, United Kingdom/Haybridge). Then they took a 2-1 lead heading into singles play with a 9-8 (7-5) victory at number three as Janelle Krantz and Samantha Bruggeman defeated Ranvita Mahto (Burlington, ON/Robert Bateman) and Erika Schnaas (Mexico City, Mexico/Escuela Nacional Preparatoria ).

It didn't take long for the Crimson Hawks to rebound as Eaton came through with a 6-1, 6-2 win at number three over Yetiskul before Schnaas gave IUP a 3-2 lead with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Bruggeman at six.

Timko put the Crimson Hawks one win away from the victory when she beat Drmac 6-4, 6-2, but The Rock came back when Lynch, the 34th-ranked player in the nation, defeated Louhabanjong 6-2, 6-2.

It came down the spots four and five, with IUP needing to win just one to get the victory. Both went the entire three sets and were played practically simultaneously. Abby McCormick (Bethel Park, Pa. /Bethel Park) dropped her first set 5-7 to Krantz while Osborne took an early lead with a 6-2 set one win.

Both would reverse their forturnes in set two, with McCormick winning 6-2 and Osborne falling 5-7, tying the scores at 1-1 to head into the third set.

Osborne then took control of her match, pulling through with a 6-1 third-set win to clinch the match. McCormick led her set 4-2 at the time of Osborne's win.

This is the second straight year that IUP has defeated Slippery Rock in the quarterfinals (also 5-3 in 2011) to advance to the semifinals to play Bloomsburg. Last season the Crimson Hawks defeated Bloomsburg 5-1 before falling to Cal 5-0 in the championship match.

The winner of the IUP/Bloomsburg match will play the winner of Cal/Kutztown, which will also be played on Friday. The championship match is scheduled for Saturday at 8:00 a.m. in Bloomsburg.