LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - IUP's Larry Peterson was named the 2021 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSC) Western Division Coach of the Year, as the league office announced its women's tennis postseason awards Friday morning. 

Peterson led the Crimson Hawks to their third PSAC tournament title in the last five years and a berth in the NCAA Division II championships. IUP and Peterson swept through divisional play with a 6-0 mark to win the program's second PSAC West regular season crown and enter next week's NCAA tournament with a 13-3 overall record. 

Peterson has successfully guided the Crimson Hawks through a challenging year with COVID and injury issues, as the team is seeded No. 2 in the Atlantic Region and has spent time in the Division II top-25 rankings. In addition to its undefeated division record, IUP also went 11-1 against top-10 teams from the region.

This is Peterson's third career PSAC West coach honor, also winning the award in 2012 and 2018. Earlier this season he eclipsed the 200-win plateau (March 20) and carries a record of 212-101 (.677) in 13 seasons at IUP.

PSAC postseason awards
The Coach of the Year honor for Peterson is part of the conference's 2021 men's and women's tennis postseason awards announced Friday. In addition to Peterson, four Crimson Hawks earned all-conference honors, including singles players Karolin Kirchtag, Katy Graydon and Idoia Huerta, and the doubles teams of Huerta and Lydia Vlachou, and Kirchtag and Graydon.

Up next
Peterson and the Crimson Hawks take on No. 3 seed Slippery Rock in the semifinals of the NCAA's Atlantic Region championship bracket on Monday, May 10. 

Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's tennis on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPtennis.