INDIANA, Pa. – It has been just shy of a year since IUP has taken the court in a tennis match. Last March, the Crimson Hawks had their spring break trip (and remainder of the season) prematurely terminated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the team returned home from Orlando, Fla., they competed in three matches, to where they were victorious in two. This year's season opener is set for Saturday, February 13 against Youngstown State. This will be the first time these two teams have ever met in a tennis match.
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LAST TIME OUT
On March 12, 2020, the Crimson Hawks rallied over Northwood in a 4-3 victory. The match was sealed by two back-to-back set wins by
Joanna Stralka (5-7, 6-4, 10-6) and
Laura Dunarova (7-6, 6-2). With this win, the Hawks improved to 7-2 before the sudden end to the season.
NOTES
>> IUP returns last year's ITA Atlantic Region Freshmen of the Year,
Joanna Stralka, who led the team with a 19-2 singles record and a team-high 30 total wins. Stralka went 13-1 in tournament play and 6-1 in dual matches. She also boasted a .905 singles win percentage, the best in program history.
>> Returning for the Crimson Hawks is junior
Idoia Huerta, who transferred in to IUP and tallied up 19 total wins and, along with teammate
Katya Minchenkova, was the No. 4 doubles team in the region.
>>
Flavia Flandoli will return for the Hawks after not seeing the court last season due to injury. Two years ago, in her sophomore season, Flandoli had 6 total wins. She also advanced to Flight 4 singles match at Bucknell's Bison Invitational.
>> Another returner for the team is junior
Laura Dunarova. Aside from sealing the Hawks' final win of 2020, Dunarova had 11 total wins a year ago and posted an 8-1 singles record during dual play.
>> New faces to the program include freshmen
Abby Jones,
Lydia Vlachou, and
Katy Graydon, and junior
Karolin Kirchtag, who played two seasons at Alabama Huntsville and had 29 combined wins, including 16 singles victories. Kirchtag also went 5-2 in singles playing at the No. 2 position, ending the shortened year with five straight wins.
UP NEXT
This is the first of two matches to be played in February. The team is scheduled to face off against Bucknell on Sunday, February 28. The Crimson Hawks will host Carnegie Mellon in their home-opener on Sunday, March 21.
