Conference Highlights
IUP Tennis has been completely transformed since Coach Peterson took over the program. The Crimson Hawks have won more matches each year, going from 4 wins to 17, to 21, to 22 wins this year. 22 wins marks a school record for most wins in a season.
IUP got as high as #31 in the national rankings this year.
Post Season Highlights
IUP advanced to the finals of the PSAC Conference tournament for the first time in school history in 2011, and repeated as a finalist in 2012 and 2013.
Tournament Highlights
Three straight appearances in the NCAA round of 16.
In 2013 IUP hosted an NCAA Regional Championship for the 2nd consecutive season.
At the National Championships last year, the team was honored with the NCAA Team GPA Award. This is a national award going to the team with the highest GPA of all teams competing at the National Championships.
IUP tennis athletes have been honored with the NCAA Elite 89 Award 2 of the last 3 years. This is a national academic award going to the student-athlete at the NCAA Championships with the highest cumulative GPA.
Individual Achievements
IUP has earned the PSAC West Freshman of the Year award for 3 of the last 4 years, with Tanya Timko, Tabtip Louhabanjong and Katie Eaton receiving the honors. Tabtip was also named ITA Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year.
Katie Eaton was named Atlantic Region Senior Player of the Year in 2013. Katie finished her career at IUP #1 all-time in singles wins, and #2 all-time in doubles wins and combined wins.
Sophomore Tanya Timko was named Atlantic Region Player to Watch.
Emilia Osborne finished her career in 2013 as the all-time leader in doubles wins and combined win, and #2 all-time in singles wins.
In 2013, IUP had 3 players make the ALL PSAC West team, the most of any team in the conference.
Coaching Achievements
Larry Peterson just finished up his fifth season as the head coach at IUP, tranforming IUP Women's Tennis into a regional powerhouse.
Peterson has been named ITA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year 2 of last 3 years after setting a school record for wins with 22 and winning 3 straight NCAA Regional Championships.
Peterson was also named USTA Middle States Section College Coach of the Year, and PSAC West Coach of the Year last year. In addition, his team finished the year with a team GPA of 3.59.
Peterson came to IUP from the Division-1 program at Bucknell University, where he was an assistant coach for the Bison men's and women's tennis teams since August 2006. While at Bucknell, he was responsible for recruiting, planning and running practices and conditioning and providing on-court coaching.
At Bucknell, Peterson coached nine All-Patriot League selections, the 2007 men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the 2007 women's Rookie of the Year as well as a total of 22 players who were named to the conference's academic honor roll.
Prior to his stint at Bucknell, Peterson was an assistant coach at State College High School. In three years, the boy's team had a record of 58-4 and made two trips to the final four of the PIAA state championship tournament.
Peterson is a USPTA certified tennis professional.
Peterson is a competitive tennis player and holds a singles record of 52-18 with 10 tournament titles since 2003. In 2006, he won the title at the Mid-Atlantic sectional championships, earning qualification to nationals.
Peterson earned his bachelor's degree in economics from DePauw University in 1990 and a master's degree in the same field from Texas A&M in 1991. He completed coursework in a master's in photo-communications at Ohio University in 2000.
In addition to his tennis coaching and playing experience, Peterson has been a staff photographer at newspapers in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wyoming and taught English and economics in the Czech Republic. He is also an accomplished piano player, including a guest soloist appearance with the Richmond (Ind.) Symphony Orchestra.
