A new coach has sparked excitement in the Hawkeyes.
By Nicholas Moreano
The Iowa women’s tennis season is exactly three weeks away from starting its season, and the team is ready to go.
Iowa women’s head coach Sasha Schmid, in her first season with the Hawkeyes, is still trying to get to know her players, but she likes what she has seen so far in the players attitudes and effort during practice.
Senior Natalie Looney likes her new head coach and what she means for the team.
“I really like Sasha; I think she brings a lot of core values that will create a good culture,” Looney said. “I think she is trying to build a physical platform first, and then we will build up from there.”
Even though the fall season is just underway, sophomore Adorabol Huckleby already can tell the difference from this season to last.
“I feel like we’re all just really eager to get started and get better from coming off our last season,” she said. “I feel like there is just a lot of positive energy going in, and we’re all just working hard.”
Last season, the Hawkeyes went 10-15, 0-11 in the Big Ten.
Junior Montana Crawford also has picked up on that positive energy around practice with Schmid as head coach.
“She is very positive, and in practices I haven’t heard her say one negative word yet to anybody,” Crawford said. “I think just her positivity just relaxes everybody and lets us play to our strength.”
With the team starting its new season, it’s a clean slate, and Schmid believes that if the players put in the hard work, their confidence will grow and that will help translate into the upcoming matches.
“Our practices have been very intense, and she’s very focused on fitness,” Crawford said. “The fitness will help us mentally when we push ourselves hard in practice and that will transfer over to our matches.”
Despite the team working hard each and every day, Schmid knows it will be a process to taking the next step forward. But the head coach wants to see each individual improve every time she steps on the court.
Schmid knows the team had several 4-3 losses a season ago, and if each player improves each day, this will help the team to become more competitive in the Big Ten.
The goal is to be in the middle of the pack of the Big Ten, and the Hawks can achieve that by learning from those 4-3 losses a season ago and turning them into wins.
With Schmid installing her hard-work mentality, there is excitement around the tennis team, and the players anxiously wait to get their season started.
“The team is excited; we have a new coach, and there is a new energy,” Looney said. “I think everyone is just excited to get the season started.”