DENVER, Colo. – Despite an exciting, upset doubles victory from
Jarka Petercakova (Bratislava, Slovakia/Sport Gymnasium) and
Luise von Agris (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany/Adalbet-Stifter-Gymnasium), the IUP women's tennis season came to an end on Wednesday as the 38th-ranked Crimson Hawks fell to 12th-ranked St. Mary's (Tex.) by a score of 5-1 at the NCAA Division II Championships.
The Crimson Hawks finish their season with a 22-5 overall record, tying the program record for victories. It was the sixth straight year IUP has advanced to the NCAA Championships round of 16. St. Mary's advances to the national quarterfinals to play the winner of No. 1 BYU-Hawaii and No. 9 Columbus State.
St. Mary's was the toughest competition of the year for the Crimson Hawks, as the Battlers are now 21-3 on the season were the top seed in the South Central Region. St. Mary's boasts a pair of doubles teams and two singles players who are ranked nationally.
Petercakova and von Agris picked up a big win over one of those ranked teams, scoring an 8-5 victory at the No. 1 doubles spot over 17th-ranked Jamie Lee Denton and Kaylin Kruseman. The Denton/Kruseman pair entered the day winners of nine of their last 10 and with an 18-5 dual match record. Petercakova and von Agris improved to 19-7 in dual matches with the win.
The victory for von Agris also extended her IUP single season record to 52 combined wins (26 singles, 26 doubles).
St. Mary's had won the first two doubles matches prior to the IUP victory, including an 8-0 win by 22nd-ranked Cristina Lopez and Hannah Petersen over
Alanna McFail (Fort Washington, Md. /St. John's College ) and
Rachel Wood (Nottingham, U.K./West Bridgrord). IUP's
Raquel Gonzalez (San Sebastian, Spain/Colegio Sagrado Corazon) and
Claudia Menes (Asturias, Spain/San Eutiquio) fell to Ally Macial and Mariela Sarinana 8-2 at No. 3.
The Battlers clinched the match with three singles wins, as
Sophie Butland (Taunton, Somerset, U.K./Bishop Fox's Community School) fell to Tyra Timm 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4; Wood lost to Petersen 6-1, 6-0 at No. 6; and Gonzalez dropped a 6-1, 6-2 match to Kruseman at No. 3.
The loss ends the career of McFail, who amassed a combined 115 victories over four years, including 74 doubles wins, a mark that ranks fourth in IUP history.
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's tennis on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPtennis.
