The Iowa men’s tennis team faced defeat for the first time of the 2011 season, losing to DePaul for the first time in six years on Feb. 5 in Chicago. It also marked the first time former Iowa assistant coach and current DePaul head coach Matt Brothers has beaten his mentor in Iowa head coach Steve Houghton.

The Hawkeyes got off to a slow start in their doubles matches, losing two of three. Things only got worse when singles play began — Iowa dropped four out of six matches. Sophomore Garret Dunn was able to stay perfect on the season, winning his doubles match with partner Nikita Zotov and claiming his second singles victory of the season.

Junior Will Vasos also remained undefeated in the spring, capturing another victory.

Houghton doesn’t see this loss affecting his team’s attitude, and he isn’t too disappointed with the outcome.

“I can’t say we played bad,” Houghton said. “In some cases, we played very well. We played between average and good, and no one played poorly.”

Next week, Iowa will travel to Fayetteville to face No. 70 Arkansas.

— by Ben Ross