The Iowa women’s tennis team looks to bounce back at home his weekend after their first loss on the season.
The Hawkeyes traveled to Norman, Oklahoma this past weekend to face the University of Oregon as well as the Oklahoma Sooners to put their first road match of the year in the books.
“They executed better than we did, we played them tight to a point and had a lot of opportunities in doubles against both teams,” head coach Katie Dougherty said. “For whatever reason we weren’t able to capitalize on. They’re a good team and there not going to give you another chance, I don’t want to call it missed opportunities but we weren’t able to execute our skill set when we needed to at a high level.”
Looking forward, the team is getting themselves prepared for their upcoming matches at home this weekend against Northern Iowa and Bradley as they look to improve to 7-1.
Northern Iowa is 1-5 on the year and also looks to rebound from a loss, falling to Iowa State last week in Ames.
“We don’t know a ton about these teams, we’ve seen Northern Iowa quite a bit in the last couple years and they are a good Missouri Valley team and Bradley we haven’t played since I’ve been here. It’s another opportunity for us to get better and get back on the right track, we aren’t taking anything for granted and we’ll be ready to go against these guys,” Dougherty said.
Bradley holds a 6-4 record on the season but looks to snap a two game slide when they visit the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex.
Both visiting teams will be put to a tough test considering the Hawkeyes have won six straight at home and remain undefeated there this season.
“We got right back to work this week and have had a good week of practices and made adjustments from last weekend. We’re looking forward to being at home this weekend before a long road swing,” Dougherty said.
One the men’s side of things, the team is looking for a win against IUPUI and the University of Denver in a double header at home this weekend.
The men’s team is currently ranked No. 43, the highest ranking in program history.
“We want to make the NCAA tournament, we want to finish top four in the Big Ten, and we want to win every match that we play. We’re only six matches in and we’ve got a lot more opportunities coming up to beat some higher ranked teams and get some more nationally ranked wins on our record,” head coach Ross Wilson said.
The men’s team will start the double header on Friday against IUPUI at 11 a.m. and then be back at it against Denver at 6 p.m.
The women’s team is set to play Northern Iowa on Friday at 2:30 p.m. and then again on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Bradley. Admission for both the men and women’s matches are free to the public.