MILLERSVILLE, Pa. — The PSAC East champions and No. 1 seed Millersville women's tennis team will square off against Slippery Rock in the PSAC Tournament semifinals. The match will take place at 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon in Bloomsburg.
 
Millersville has gone 15–7 and a perfect 7–0 in conference play, while also hitting the 15-win mark for the second time in three seasons. Slippery Rock has gone 13–6 over the 2023-24 season with a 5–1 record against PSAC opponents, and defeated Mercyhurst 4–1 in the PSAC Tournament Quarterfinals. The Rock has won seven straight duals since April 9, with their only conference loss being against Indiana University (Pa.) (IUP) just before their streak started, falling 2–5. Millersville is 11–16 all-time against Slippery Rock but have lost the last 13 duals dating back to 2005.
 
Millersville's lineup is led by senior Noelle Htwar, followed by Hui Jen Soo and Chloe Abramowitz. The latter half for most of the spring season has been comprised of underclassmen Sido Rault, Lauren Hayes, and Sophie Lanius. Htwar and Lanius have both been recipients of the conference's weekly Athlete of the Week award, with stretches of dominating play over the late stretches of the schedule. Head coach Matt Helsel said one of the characteristics of the team is their fight. The Marauders can never be counted out of a match, and they have proved it countless times this season.
 
"They are an amazing group of relentless competitors that do not quit, do not give up, do not let each other down," Helsel said. "We had a couple of matches that we should've lost, and they just refused. I think it's going to be a heck of a match on Friday. We're excited to get a chance to play [Slippery Rock]. They're definitely a good team, they've been one of the top teams in the conference for a long time. They're very experienced, very talented. But I've learned to not tell my players what they can't do, because they might just do it."
 
The performance from the top spot in the lineup helped propel Millersville to the top of the PSAC East. Htwar took a little bit of time to get going, but she caught fire in late March. The leader of the squad has won eight of her last nine singles matches and seven of nine doubles matches since the Marauders win over Franklin & Marshall on 26. The tear earned her PSAC East Athlete of the Week for the last week of the regular season, with Helsel calling it a fitting way for her to close out her senior season.

"Noelle has been unbelievable the last few weeks," Helsel said. "She's really led the way, at the perfect time of the year, and doing it against the best comeptition day after day. What a great way to cap off a great career."

The Marauders have been able to build chemistry and confidence throughout their lineup, as the six starters have been in their spots for the majority of the season. The three most common duos each have a positive record, as well as five of the six starters in singles play. Looking deeper, the trio of Rault, Hayes, and Lanius in the fourth, fifth, and sixth flights respectively have combined for a record of 43–13 in duals. This has often been one of the deciding factors in wins for the Marauders, as Htwar, Soo, and Abramowitz have duked it out at the top of the lineup, winning most of the matches in the first three flights. Helsel said the consistency within the lineup has helped bring out the best in each of his players.
 
"Those teams know each other very well," Helsel said. "They're playing at a very high level of doubles, they're almost interchangeable. Sophie and Lauren could probably play one for us, you could switch those teams up however you want to, and it would still be good for us. They've had a chance to settle into a lineup for a long time, so I think that continuity gives them a lot of comfort and confidence as they move on from match to match."
 
It has been a succesful four-year stretch for Millersville tennis, as it is the only program to send both the men's and women's teams to the conference semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. This time, the Marauders are looking to make it back to the PSAC Championship round after not being able to compete due to COVID-19 in the 2021 match against IUP. It has been over 20 years since both programs have won the PSAC Championship, as Millersville's last title came in 2002 and Slippery Rock's was the following year. Ranked fifth in the Atlantic region, two spots behind Slippery Rock, the Marauders welcome the challenge. 
 
"I know we're playing [Slippery Rock], but it didn't matter to me or the girls who we play. They just show up, play hard, fight and battle, and they do whatever it takes to win."
 
The winner of the semifinals match will play the winner between IUP and West Chester, with the championship match taking place at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 4 in Bloomsburg.