PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Jarka Petercakova (Bratislava, Slovakia/Sport Gymnasium) clinched a thrilling victory for No. 28 IUP women's tennis with a three-set singles victory, as the Crimson Hawks defeated Carnegie Mellon 5-4 on Saturday afternoon.
 
Petercakova's win came at the top singles spot, defeating Nicholle Torres – the 37th ranked player in Division III – 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

BOX SCORE
 
IUP improved to 3-0 overall on the season with the victory, while Carnegie Mellon fell to 5-2. CMU entered the match as the 12th-ranked team in Division III.
 
The Crimson Hawks took a 2-1 lead after doubles
Petercakova and doubles-mate Luise von Agris (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany/Adalbet-Stifter-Gymnasium) started off the day with an 8-1 victory at the top spot. Raquel Gonzalez (San Sebastian, Spain/Colegio Sagrado Corazon) and Rachel Wood (Nottingham, U.K./West Bridgrord) dropped an 8-5 decision at two, before Sophie Butland (Taunton, Somerset, U.K./Bishop Fox's Community School) and Katya Minchenkova (Mytishchi, Russia/Secondary School No.12) gave IUP a 2-1 lead with an 8-4 win at third doubles.
 
IUP holds off CMU
Carnegie Mellon took the first two singles matches, with wins at three and four giving the Tartans a 3-2 lead in the match. IUP picked up wins in the next two, with Minchenkova winning at six 6-4, 6-3 and Butland winning at five by a score of 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.
 
The Tartans tied things up at two, before Petercakova's match-clinching victory.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks head to Ohio next weekend to face off against Denison in Granville on Sunday morning at 10 a.m.   
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's tennis on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPtennis.