MATCH DAY CENTRAL
No. 35 IUP Crimson Hawks (10-4, 4-0 PSAC West)
vs. No. 47 Grand Valley State Lakers (18-7, 9-2 GLIAC)
Saturday, April 1, 2017 | 1:30 p.m.
Akron, Ohio | Towpath Tennis Center
No. 35 IUP Crimson Hawks (10-4, 4-0 PSAC West)
vs. Wayne State Warriors (10-9, 6-5 GLIAC)
Sunday, April 2, 2017 | 12:30 p.m.
Akron, Ohio | Towpath Tennis Center
Live Updates: Twitter |
@iuptennis
AT A GLANCE
The 35th-ranked Crimson Hawks will play "host" as they face top competition from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) this weekend in Akron, Ohio. IUP will face No. 47 Grand Valley State at the Towpath Tennis Center on Saturday, and Wayne State on Sunday. The Crimson Hawks head into the weekend on a five-match win streak, winning by a combined score of 41-4 during that span.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
* The Crimson Hawks are coming off of back-to-back shutouts of Clarion and Edinboro, blanking three total opponents in the last four matches
* This will be the fifth straight year IUP has squared off against Grand Valley State, which boasts one of the top programs in the Midwest and arguably the strongest overall Division II school
* IUP and GVSU have split the previous four contests, with the Crimson Hawks winning by 5-4 scores in 2013 and 2014, and the Lakers coming out on top 5-4 in 2015 and 7-2 last season
* Grand Valley State is ranked fifth in the Midwest Region by the ITA, with their top player ranked 11th in the region
* It'll also be the fifth consecutive season that IUP and Wayne State have met, with the two programs also splitting the previous four matchups; IUP won 6-3 in 2013 and 7-2 last season, while the Warriors won by identical 7-2 scores in 2014 and 2015
* Four IUP players enter the weekend with singles win streaks of at least four -
Sophie Butland (Taunton, Somerset, U.K./Bishop Fox's Community School) with six,
Raquel Gonzalez (San Sebastian, Spain/Colegio Sagrado Corazon) and
Rachel Wood (Nottingham, U.K./West Bridgrord) with five, and
Luise von Agris (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany/Adalbet-Stifter-Gymnasium) with four
* All three IUP doubles teams have won at least four in a row, including Gonzalez and Wood at No. 2 with six straight wins
* Jarka Petercakova and von Agris are IUP's only nationally-ranked players, showing up at No. 16 in the ITA Division II doubles rankings; They are a combined 19-6 at the No. 1 spot this year, including 10-4 in duals
IUP IN THE RANKINGS
Von Agris
Singles - third in Atlantic Region / Doubles - 16th in Division II, first in Atlantic
Petercakova
Singles - fifth in Atlantic / Doubles - 16th in Division II, first in Atlantic
Gonzalez
Singles - 11th in Atlantic / Doubles - eighth in Atlantic
Minchenkova
Singles - 14th in Atlantic / Doubles - eighth in Atlantic
