What may be the toughest challenge yet for Iowa women’s tennis awaits the team in Stillwater, Oklahoma, starting today.

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals will include top college players from all around the central region, which spans from Minnesota to Oklahoma.
“The best players in the region will be playing,” head coach Katie Dougherty said. “It’s the premier event in our region.”

But the Hawkeyes are confident they understand what the challenge entails.

“Everybody is going to be good there,” sophomore Anastasia Reimchen said. “A lot of competition that is going to be at a very high level.”

All four players — senior Annette Dohanics, junior Natalie Looney, and sophomores Reimchen and Zoe Douglas — will compete in their first regionals competition.

On Iowa’s young team of 10 athletes — four freshmen and a total of five new players — many of them are not seasoned veterans. The four Hawkeyes heading to Oklahoma do, however, each have experience prior to this season and have played in at least one fall tournament in 2015.

All four of them will compete in individual matches as well as doubles matches.

Dohanics and Reimchen will pair up for a new team for the Hawkeyes, and Dougherty is optimistic about their chances.

“They’ll bring a lot of firepower,” she said. “They have a lot of weapons.”

Iowa’s other doubles team will be Looney and Douglas, who competed together at the Purdue Invitational.

“Natalie and Zoe looked great to me at Purdue,” Dougherty said. “There’s good chemistry with those two teams.”
Dougherty knows the regional is new for all of her players but believes she has prepared them well and thinks that improvements in practice are a good sign — something that could prove to be critical as the Hawkeyes take on a wealth of quality competition.

The Hawks will square off with the best players from Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Missouri, Missouri State, Minnesota, Wichita State, Tulsa, Kansas, Kansas State, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Southern Illinois, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Nebraska, Nebraska-Omaha, Missouri-Kansas City, Oral Roberts, Drake, and St. Louis.

What’s evident is that the Hawkeyes will need to play at an extremely high level if they want to do some damage in Stillwater.

Douglas is prepared for the tough competition, although she admits this is a new event for her.

“I don’t know what to expect, but it’s a great opportunity,” she said. “I want to make coach proud and do well for the team … I want to do the best I possibly can.”

Dougherty believes the Hawkeyess are ready and that they have shown potential and growth so far this fall.

“I’m pleased with where this group is now,” she said. “I expect them to have a great weekend.”