MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – It was quite a day for the IUP women's tennis program as Crimson Hawks players won the singles and doubles titles at the 2021 ITA Atlantic Region Championships on Monday at Millersville University.
 
Senior Karolin Kirchtag was the bigger winner, taking home the singles crown in addition to partnering with sophomore Katy Graydon for the doubles title.
 
The titles were historically significant in their own right as they marked the first ITA regional championships under veteran head coach Larry Peterson – and believed to be the first ever in program history.
 
Prior to this year, only twice have IUP players made it to the semifinal round under Peterson – Luise von Agris in 2016 and Julia Newman in 2018.
 
The doubles title held even more historical significance as it was an all-IUP finale: Kirchtag and Graydon went up against teammates Natasha Munday and Joanna Stralka, guaranteeing a Crimson Hawks victory after both won in Sunday's semifinals.
 
Kirchtag and Graydon went the distance to win, taking down their teammates 12-10 in a tiebreaker.
 
After a short break, teammates became opponents as Kirchtag and Graydon faced each other in the first of two singles semifinals. Kirchtag again had to go extra to win, defeating Graydon 6-1, 0-6, 10-7 in a tiebreaker.
 
Kirchtag's opponent in the final was Lois Page of Slippery Rock, who had just come off a two-set semifinals win. And yet again Kirchtag put in extra work, rallying to defeat Page 6-7 (2), 6-4, 10-6 in the tiebreak to complete her run.
 
Kirchtag, the No. 6-seeded player in the singles draw, finished her weekend at ITA's with a combined 10-0 record, recording five wins in each the singles and doubles brackets. She posted three singles wins over seeded opponents, including a quarterfinal victory over No. 1 seed Prinkle Singh of Charleston.
 
Together Kirchtag and Graydon took down three seeded pairings, including two sets of teammates in No. 2 Idoia Huerta and Lydia Vlachou and No. 4 seeded Munday and Stralka.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks have another championship tournament on deck as they head to Bloomsburg this weekend to compete in the 2021 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Individual Tennis Championships. Action begins on Saturday.
 
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For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's tennis on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPtennis.