Box Score

INDIANA, Pa. – Freshman Claudia Menes (Asturias, Spain/San Eutiquio) picked up her 27th singles win on the season, helping IUP to a 5-0 win over visiting Chowan on the first day of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Women's Tennis Championships at the Maple Street Courts on Sunday.
 
The win advanced the second seeded Crimson Hawks to one of two Atlantic Region finals, as they'll play Mercyhurst for the right to go to the NCAA's round of 16 in Denver, Colo. Mercyhurst, the third seed, advanced with a 5-0 win over sixth seed Charleston (W.Va.).
 
Menes' record-tying win came at the No. 5 singles spot, defeating Jessica De Backre 6-2, 6-1. It was the first singles win for the Crimson Hawks as they took a 4-0 lead in the match. She now has an 11-match win streak and an overall singles win percentage of .870 (27-4) in 31 matches.
 
It was also Menes' second victory of the day, as she teamed with Raquel Gonzalez (San Sebastian, Spain/Colegio Sagrado Corazon) for an 8-3 victory at No. 3 doubles to start the match. IUP continued to breeze through doubles play, with Jarka Petercakova (Bratislava, Slovakia/Sport Gymnasium) and Luise von Agris (Castrop-Rauxel Germany/Adalbet-Stifter-Gymnasium) winning 8-1 at No. 1 while Rachel Wood (Nottingham, U.K./West Bridgrord) and Alanna McFail (Fort Washington, Md. /St. John's College ) followed with an 8-5 win at No. 2.
 
The clinching victory came at No. 6 as Wood defeated Anna Makhneva by a score of 6-3, 6-2.  
 
IUP's matchup with Mercyhurst will be the third one of the year between these two teams, as the Crimson Hawks were victorious in both. IUP won 5-4 in the regular season and 5-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) quarterfinals, with each match played at IUP. The Crimson Hawks also defeated Mercyhurst 5-1 in last year's Atlantic Region championship.
 
Tomorrow's championship is scheduled for 11 a.m.
 
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's tennis on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPtennis.