BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – For the first time in program history, IUP women's tennis won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) team championship. The Crimson Hawks captured their title with a 5-2 win over Mercyhurst on Saturday at the Burt Reese Tennis Center at Bloomsburg University.
The title-clinching victory came from
Raquel Gonzalez (San Sebastian, Spain/Colegio Sagrado Corazon) at the No. 3 singles spot, as she defeated Adrianna Jeffress 6-1, 6-4. The Crimson Hawks were making their seventh consecutive PSAC championship match appearance, finally getting over the hump to assert themselves as the top program in the conference and the Atlantic Region.
IUP took a 2-1 lead in the match through doubles play, picking up victories at the two and three spots. Gonzalez and
Rachel Wood (Nottingham, U.K./West Bridgrord) defeated Annie Baich and Saioa Gomez 8-5 while
Sophie Butland (Taunton, Somerset, U.K./Bishop Fox's Community School) and
Katya Minchenkova (Mytishchi, Russia/Secondary School No.12) picked up a 7-6 win as Adina Spahalic and Alexia Nay retired.
In a battle of the top two ranked doubles teams in the region,
Jarka Petercakova (Bratislava, Slovakia/Sport Gymnasium) and
Luise von Agris (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany/Adalbet-Stifter-Gymnasium) fell to Jeffress and Kayla Frost 8-4 at the top spot.
In singles play, von Agris gave IUP a 3-1 lead in the match with a 6-1, 6-2 over Frost at No. 2. Butland added the next win at No. 6, defeating Carmen Mantecon Duro by a score of 6-2, 6-0.
Gomez, the 20th-ranked player in Division II, picked up Mercyhurst's only singles victory with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Petercakova at No. 1.
The clincher from Gonzalez came about 15 minutes later, as the Crimson Hawks celebrated around her.
The winning continues for the Crimson Hawks
Today's PSAC team title follows the conference doubles championship for Petercakova and von Agris this past fall, also the first for the program.
Up next
The win could determine the Atlantic Region's top seed as the NCAA announces its Division II tournament field this coming Tuesday. The Crimson Hawks, who have made seven straight NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Championship appearances, are looking to be named the No. 1 seed for the very first time.
The NCAA selection show is scheduled for Tuesday at 8 p.m. and can be watched on NCAA.com.
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's tennis on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @iuptennis.
