Chase Tomlins continues to impress observers this fall.

The freshman led the Iowa men’s tennis team at the Big Ten singles tournament on Oct. 30 with an opening-round victory in the Flight A bracket, defeating Penn State’s Harry Seaborn (6-3, 6-0).

Tomlins came up short in his next match, though, losing to Stephen Hoh of Illinois (6-1, 6-1).

On the third day of action in East Lansing, Mich., Tomlins reached the quarterfinals before being ousted in a well-fought bout, head coach Steve Houghton said. The Hawkeye coach thought Tomlins was notable all tournament, including the consolation portion of the bracket on Sunday.

“He played really well,” Houghton said. “Got through a couple of tough sets and was able to get a win against [Seaborn].”

For Iowa, other highlights were the improving doubles tandem of senior Austen Kauss and junior Will Vasos, who lost in a tiebreaker to Michigan’s Chris Cha and Shaun Bernstein (9-8 [3]). After the defeat, Kauss and Vasos went on to post two wins on the consolation side of the Flight A bracket, with both victories coming in straight sets.

Sophomore Garret Dunn and senior Nik Zotov paired up as a doubles tandem, and it proved to be successful, Houghton said. The duo would go on to reach the consolation finals before suffering a narrow loss to Michigan State’s Austin Brooks and John Stratton (9-8 [3]).

Mitch Beckert continued his hot streak for the Hawkeyes by picking up two impressive wins in the consolation bracket. In the quarterfinals, however, Beckert retired because of an undisclosed injury.

With this tournament, Iowa’s fall campaign comes to its conclusion. The Hawkeyes next take the courts on Jan. 28, 2011 at the Kick-Off Classic.

— by Matt Cozzi