Crimson & Gray Awards |
INDIANA, Pa. – The Crimson Hawks' women's tennis program has been named the 2016-17 IUP Women's Team of the Year. The award was announced Wednesday, June 14 by the IUP Athletic Department.
The award is part of the newly established Crimson & Gray Awards, which recognize the top athletes, coaches, teams and performances of the IUP Athletics season.
The Team of the Year Award is in its first year of existence.
The Crimson Hawks are coming off of their best season ever, winning the program's first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Women's Tennis Championship. IUP defeated Mercyhurst 5-2 in the league's championship match in Bloomsburg back in April, while also claiming the top seed from the Atlantic Region in the NCAA Division II Championships.
The title-clinching victory came from senior
Raquel Gonzalez (San Sebastian, Spain/Colegio Sagrado Corazon) at the No. 3 singles spot, as she defeated the Lakers' Adrianna Jeffress 6-1, 6-4. The Crimson Hawks were making their seventh consecutive PSAC championship match appearance, finally getting over the hump to assert themselves as the top program in the conference and the region.
IUP cruised past West Virginia State 5-0 in the second round of the Atlantic Region Championships, advancing to the program's seventh straight NCAA sweet 16 appearance.
The Crimson Hawks finished the year with a 20-6 overall record, with a 5-1 mark in PSAC West play. They tallied nine shutout victories, including five straight at the end of the regular season and into the start of the PSAC tournament. IUP was ranked in the top 40 of Division II all year, reaching as high as 28th, the best ranking in program history.
Jarka Petercakova (Bratislava, Slovakia/Sport Gymnasium) and
Luise von Agris (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany/Adalbet-Stifter-Gymnasium) finished the year as the 18th-ranked doubles team in the country, and won the doubles title at the PSAC Individual Championships in the fall. Four total players earned All-PSAC West honors, and
Larry Peterson was named the Atlantic Region Coach of the Year by the ITA.
Up next
The inaugural Crimson & Gray Awards wrap up on Thursday with the announcements of the Men's and Women's Athletes of the Year.
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Athletics on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk.
