The Iowa men’s tennis team won two meets in its annual spring trip and pushed its record to 8-3.

The No. 53 Hawkeyes stumbled at the beginning of the trip, falling, 5-2, to No. 52 Nevada-Las Vegas (10-7) on March 17. The doubles team of Tommy McGeorge and Will Vasos lost for the first time in eight matches, falling to UNLV’s Mehdi Bouras and Luca Barlocch, 9-7.

Marc Bruche was a bright spot in singles, defeating No. 112 Bouras (5-7, 6-3, 6-1) in the No. 1 slot.

The team concluded its trip on March 20, squeaking past Pacific, 4-3. Iowa won the doubles point for the first time in three meets.

Pacific (3-8) swept the first three singles positions, but Vasos, McGeorge, and Austen Kauss stepped up to win their matches and secured the victory.

Kauss earned a milestone by defeating Oliphant (6-0, 6-0). The match was the first time this season a Hawkeye has shut out his opponent.

“That’s hard to do in collegiate tennis,” Iowa head coach Steve Houghton said. “Austen played close to flawlessly.”

— by Seth Roberts