Two IUP athletic teams, baseball and women’s tennis, received preseason rankings on Tuesday.
According to IUP Sports Information, the IUP baseball program was picked seventh in the division as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) announced its 2021 preseason coaches’ polls.
There was a tie at the top of the Western Division with Mercyhurst and Seton Hill each receiving four of the possible eight first place votes. Cal U is third according to the coaches’ predictions with Gannon fourth, Slippery Rock fifth and Pitt-Johnstown sixth. Clarion rounded out the PSAC West poll in eighth.
In this Eastern Division, Millersville was picked to finish first and received seven first place votes. East Stroudsburg came in second and received the other two first place votes in the nine-team division.
Under fifth-year head coach Anthony Rebyanski, the Crimson Hawks bring back 11 of 13 position players who started at least four games during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. After a rough start last spring, IUP ended the year with three straight victories and averaged 12.7 runs during that span.
The Poll
EAST (# of first-place votes)
1) Millersville (7)
2) East Stroudsburg (2)
3) Bloomsburg
4) Shepherd
5) West Chester
6) Shippensburg
7) Lock Haven
8) Kutztown
9) Mansfield
WEST (# of first-place votes)
1) Mercyhurst (4)
1) Seton Hill (4)
3) Cal U
4) Gannon
5) Slippery Rock
6) Pitt-Johnstown
7) IUP
8) Clarion
In women’s tennis, the IUP women’s tennis team opens the 2021 season ranked No. 24 in the Oracle/ITA Division II top 25 preseason coaches’ poll.
This is the highest Division II national ranking for the Crimson Hawks since sitting at No. 24 on February 21, 2018. It’s also the first preseason national ranking since being ranked No. 28 in the 2016-17 preseason top-50 poll.
IUP is the only team from the Atlantic Region ranked in ITA’s preseason poll.
Barry received eight first place votes and headlines the preseason top-25. The rest of the top-5 includes Lynn at No. 2, Nova Southeastern at No. 3, Indianapolis at No. 4 and Columbus State and Hawaii Pacific in a tie for No. 5.
The Crimson Hawks feature a deep roster in 2021 that includes two of its top-four winners from the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season. That includes sophomore Joanna Stralka, who was named the ITA Atlantic Region Freshman of the Year and won the 2019 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) singles championship. Stralka had 30 combined wins and finished her freshman year as the No. 2-ranked singles player in the Atlantic Region.
The Crimson Hawks open the season February 13 at Youngstown State.
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