Pete Ruden
The University of Iowa men’s tennis team had a successful tournament at the Valparaiso Invitational this past weekend.
In the team’s first tournament of the year, sophomore Tony Leto beat Franklin Brozovich of Valparaiso 7-6 (6), 7-6(6), to take home the title in the Flight C Finals.
“Tony has made some big strides, not only in the way he hits the ball, but he’s mentally tougher,” assistant coach Matt Hagan said in a release. “He won some big points in his match [Friday], so you can see with one full year under his belt, he’s a better player.”
In Flight A doubles action, Leto and freshman Jason Kerst received a first round bye before defeating a team from Washington University. In the championship match, the team fell to Kyle Dunn and Brandon Ancona from Valparaiso to finish second.
Kerst also played singles in Flight A, where he won his first match as a Hawkeye.
“I was very impressed with Jason [on Friday],” Hagan said in a release. “He’s playing in the toughest flight of the tournament and he beat a good player [Friday.]”
Though Kerst was defeated in his semifinal match, the true freshman showed signs of things to come in the future, showing he can compete at the Division-1 level, which is promising for the Hawkeyes.
The Hawkeyes will continue their season next weekend, as they travel to San Francisco for the Battle in the Bay from Sept. 23 through Sept. 25.