Four IUP women’s tennis players are listed among the best in the country as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released its Division II National Rankings on Wednesday morning. The national rankings feature the top 50 singles players and top 25 doubles teams in Division II.
The Crimson Hawks continue to make program history with the first rankings release of the 2021-22 season, with two singles players and two doubles teams ranked in the top-50.
Karolin Kirchtag is the No. 26-ranked singles player in Division II while Natasha Munday is ranked No. 38. Kirchtag’s ranking is the second-highest by an IUP player in program history behind Tanya Timko’s No. 19-ranking in April 2014. It’s the first time two IUP singles players have been ranked at the same time.
Kirchtag had a wildly successful fall season, winning both the ITA Atlantic Region and PSAC singles titles. She boasted a 12-2 singles record with 11 straight victories and earned an automatic berth in the ITA Cup – the small college individual national championships – in Rome, Georgia. Kirchtag became the first IUP player to win a regional singles title and third to win PSAC championship.
Munday went 5-2 in the fall and finished as the singles runner-up to Kirchtag at the PSAC Championships. Munday cruised through the conference tournament, dropping a combined nine sets in four matches, before losing a heart-breaking three-setter to Kirchtag.
In the doubles rankings, Kirchtag and partner Katy Graydon achieved the highest ranking in school history at No. 10 in Division II. The two won their first 10 matches and captured the doubles titles at the ITA Atlantic Region and PSAC Championship tournaments, earned automatic bid to the ITA Cup. The two become the first doubles pairing in IUP history to win a regional title and the second to win a conference crown.
Munday and partner Joanna Stralka are ranked No. 14 in the doubles poll. The duo went a combined 8-4 in the fall and finished as the runners-up to both the regional and conference doubles championships, losing both to Kirchtag and Graydon. Munday and Stralka also earned an at-large selection to the ITA Cup by virtue of their fall success.
The Nos. 10 and 14 rankings are the two highest by doubles pairings in IUP history.
Regional rankings
The ITA released its regional rankings last Tuesday with the Crimson Hawks dominating the Atlantic Region. IUP boasts six singles players among the top-20 in the region, including three in the top-6. All three IUP doubles teams are ranked in the top four.
Kirchtag is the No. 1-ranked singles player in the Atlantic, the first top-ranking by an IUP player since Tanya Timko in April 2014. The doubles pairing of Kirchtag and Graydon also achieved a No. 1 ranking, the first since Jarka Petercakova and Luise von Agris in May 2018.
Singles
1. Karolin Kirchtag
3. Natasha Munday
6. Katy Graydon
11. Joanna Stralka
16. Idoia Huerta
17. Lydia Vlachou
Doubles
1. Karolin Kirchtag/Katy Graydon
2. Natasha Munday/Joanna Stralka
4. Idoia Huerta/Lydia Vlachou
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