BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - For the second straight season, the IUP women's tennis team has won the conference tournament title as the Crimson Hawks defeated Slippery Rock 4-1 in the 2022 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament championship match Saturday at Bloomsburg University. 

The win clinches an automatic bid to the Division II NCAA Championship which gets underway with regionals next weekend. Already the top seed in the latest regional rankings, the win all but wraps up the No. 1 spot and home court advantage in the Atlantic Region Championship 

This marks the fourth all-time PSAC title for the IUP women's tennis program, all since 2017. The Hawks also went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. 

This was the 12th straight victory for the Hawks as they improved to 17-7 overall. They are undefeated since returning from their spring break trip and have not lost since March 19. The win was also the second of the year over Slippery Rock. IUP defeated SRU 6-1 during the regular season, clinching the PSAC West regular season title on April 20. 

Karolin Kirchtag clinched the title for the Hawks at the No. 1 singles spot. defeating Lois Page 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. Down 1-0 after doubles play, the Hawks rallied for four straight singles wins. Kirchtag was joined in the singles win column by Lydia Vlachou, Joanna Stralka, and Laura Dunarova. Vlachou picked up the first point with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 5. Stralka followed with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2 and Dunarova won at No. 6 by a score of 6-1, 6-4. 

Kirchtag and Graydon combined for IUP's only doubles victory, winning 6-4 at the No. 2 spot. 

Up next
The NCAA DII Women's Tennis Selection Show will air Tuesday, May 3 at 8:30 p.m. ET on NCAA.com. A link to the show will be on the front page of NCAA.com

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