INDIANA, Pa. – The IUP women's tennis team opened up the 2015 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships with a 5-0 quarterfinal win over Mercyhurst at the Maple Street Courts on Tuesday.
With the victory, the Crimson Hawks advance to Friday's semifinals where they will face PSAC East regular season champion West Chester at Bloomsburg University. IUP, seeded second in the PSAC West, improved to 16-6 on the season while Mercyhurst, the third seed, fell to 12-4.
Jarka Petercakova (Bratislava, Slovakia/Sport Gymnasium) got the biggest win for IUP, shutting out 43rd-ranked Adrianna Jeffress 6-0, 6-0 at second singles. It was Petercakova's second win of the year over a top-50 Division II player.
Luise Von Agris (Castrop-Rauxel Germany/Adalbet-Stifter-Gymnasium) picked up the clinching victory for IUP, defeating Adina Spahalic 6-2, 6-3 at five.
The Crimson Hawks first doubles win came at three, with
Sophie Butland (Taunton, Somerset U.K./Bishop Fox's Community School) and
Alanna McFail (Fort Washington, Md. /St. John's College ) defeating Katelyn Caniford and Spahalic 8-1. Petercakova and
Tanya Timko (Cannonsburg, PA/Chartiers-Houston) beat Baich and Jeffress 8-1 at one and Von Agris and
Rachel Wood (Nottingham, U.K./West Bridgrord) took won Annie Baich and Saoia Gomez 8-5 at two.
This was the third consecutive year that these two teams matched up in the quarterfinals, with the Crimson Hawks winning each of those matchups.
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk.
