Women's Tennis 4/25/2014 7:05:00 PM

Hitz, women's tennis dominate individual tournament

CLARKS SUMMIT, PA (April 25, 2014) - Crystal Hitz earned NEAC Women's Tennis Player for the second time in her career and all six players in the lineup received a spot on NEAC All-Conference teams at the individual tournament on Friday afternoon at Birchwood Tennis Courts. (Tournament Results)

Hitz finished off her stellar four-year career with a bang by winning the No.1 singles and No. 1 doubles tournament. The senior was also the NEAC Player of the Year in her sophomore season, and was the runner-up as a freshman and junior. She won each of final nine singles matches, including eight against conference opponents in regular season and post season play. She defeated Emily Knapsack from Keuka College by a score of 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinal round and beat Honora Hegarty of Penn State Abington by the same score in the title bout.

Hitz and Nandita Munindra paired up to win the No. 1 doubles match and earn All-NEAC First Team honors. The duo defeated Brittany Vanno and Taryn Heath of Wells College by a tally of 8-3. Hitz and Munindra then took down Hegarty and Sheena Philip also by an 8-3 count. They finished the season with a 9-9 record at No. 1 singles, including wins in 7 of the final 9 matches of the season.

In addition to Hitz winning the No. 1 singles tournament, Florence Kurtz (No. 5) and Cassidy Schultz (No. 6) were winners of their respective tournament. Kurtz won 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinal before sweeping the championship, 6-0, 6-0, over Kayla Weaser of Lancaster Bible College. Schultz, playing her first year of tennis, entered as the No. 4 seed in the tournament, but that did not stop her from taking down the top-seed Christina Pereira (Penn State Abington) by a 7-5, 6-1 score. She then cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win over third seed Savannah Fuller of Keuka College.

Munindra finished with All-NEAC Third team honors at No. 2 singles, while Erin Ginther earned the same honors at No. 4 singles. Angie Koval and Schultz received a spot on the All-Conference third team at No. 3 doubles.

The Nittany Lions finished the season with a 5-13 overall record, but they finished with a strong showing the past two days. They knocked over tournament top seed Abington before falling to Keuka in the NEAC Team Championship yesterday. Berks finished the individual tournament with the most players on the first team.

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Players Mentioned

Crystal Hitz: 5' 7"; Senior

Angie Koval: 5' 5"; Sophomore

Erin Ginther: 5' 5"; Freshman

Nandita Munindra: 5' 2"; Freshman

Cassidy Schultz: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Liz Kurtz: 5' 5"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Crystal Hitz
: 5' 7"; Senior

Angie Koval
: 5' 5"; Sophomore

Erin Ginther
: 5' 5"; Freshman

Nandita Munindra
: 5' 2"; Freshman

Cassidy Schultz
: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Liz Kurtz
: 5' 5"; Freshman