By Nicholas Moreano
Iowa women’s tennis practices are loud.
Walking through the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex when the women are working on their craft, it’s impossible not to hear the “Go Hawks” chants from the players and coaches.
But that wasn’t the case one day last spring as the Hawkeyes were preparing to take on South Florida. Instead of chants, screams were heard after then-junior Natalie Looney went for a backhand and immediately fell to the ground.
Looney, now a senior, tore her ACL and is now preparing herself not only physically but also mentally to get back on the court to compete this season.
After surgery, she had to go through rehabilitation and decided to spend her summer in Iowa for that.
Looney spent her first two years playing tennis for South Carolina in the ever-competitive SEC, then transferred to Iowa at the start of her junior year to play for the Hawkeyes.
With the injury happening in her first season as a Hawkeye, Looney said one of the most challenging things going through the rehabilitation process was just accepting that this injury would be a setback for her trying to play in the starting lineup.
Senior Aimee Tarun, one of Looney’s closest friends and doubles teammate for the 2016 spring season, said it was devastating to see her go down with such a terrible injury.
But Tarun has never seen someone handle an injury of that degree as Looney has.
“She’s killing rehab,” Tarun said. “She has come back so fast, and I think she will be back at full speed before we know it.”
The ultimate goal for Looney would to one day be back at full speed, but for now, she is just taking things one day at a time and is trying not to take the process too quickly.
Head coach Sasha Schmid knows the hardships of what Looney is going through — Schmid tore her ACL in March of her freshman year while she was playing for Iowa, the same month that Looney tore hers.
“She is gauging some days when it’s really sore and backing off,” Schmid said. “I think that takes a really mature person to understand how to come back from an injury like that.”
The coach has been impressed with how Looney has handled herself, mentally being very calm throughout and what she has physically been able to accomplish.
Looney has begun to go through workouts with the rest of the Hawkeyes, participating in hill workouts with the team.
Schmid said she got goose bumps seeing Looney finish her 20th hill — proof of her tenacity during rehab. Looney was able to do exactly what the rest of her teammates were doing.
As time has passed, she has made progress in the right direction to ultimately get back on the court. Now, she practices about an hour a day, is running a bit more, and lifting weights.
“I’m getting closer and closer and probably just have about 10 to 15 more percent of strengthening,” Looney said.