Freshman tennis player
Joanna Stralka and junior goalie
Madeline Smakulski were named IUP Athletes of the Week, announced by the sports information office Monday afternoon.
This is the first career IUP weekly honor for Stralka and the third for Smakulski.
Stralka opened her week last Monday by winning the singles title at the 2019 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Women's Tennis Championships. She defeated Slippery Rock senior Viola Lugmayr 6-1, 6-3 in the afternoon championship match, capping five straight wins over the weekend for the newcomer.
She followed that up a 3-0 combined record Saturday as the Crimson Hawks closed their fall schedule with duals against Millersville and Shippensburg. Stralka played at No. 1 singles for IUP against the Marauders, picking up a 6-3, 6-2 victory, and was part of two doubles wins on the day.
Smakulski helped the women's soccer program to a pair of road wins at Clarion (2-0) and Cal U (3-1) last week. The goalie posted her second full-time shutout of the season in a defensive battle at Clarion Wednesday and followed that with seven saves in a 3-1 win over the Vulcans Saturday.
It was the first 2-0 week for the Crimson Hawks this year as they moved into fourth place in the PSAC West standings with seven divisional matches remaining.
Smakulski is second in the conference with 7.40 saves per game and fourth in the division with a 1.340 goals against average.
