By Pete Ruden
The last tournament of the fall season for the Iowa men’s tennis team was also one of many firsts. It was the first time the whole team made the trip and played together, including all nine players in singles action and four doubles teams.
It was also the first tournament of the year for junior Lefteris Theodorou, who helped get the tournament off to a good start for the Hawkeyes by defeating Nebraska’s Tomislav Antoljak in straight sets and Indiana’s Matthew McCoy in three sets.
In addition to Theodorou’s wins in the first two rounds, senior Robin Haden and junior Josh Silverstein picked up victories in their first two matches to advance to the quarterfinals as well.
Junior Jake Jacoby also won his first match over Wisconsin’s John Zordani (6-7, 6-2, 6-2), but he was beaten in the second round in three sets by Matt Mendez of Ohio State.
Sophomore Jonas Larsen won his first match over Penn State’s Henry Gordon in three sets (6-2, 3-6, 6-3) as well before falling to Northwestern’s Jason Seidman (7-5, 6-3).
Like Larsen and Jacoby, redshirt freshman Kareem Allaf picked up a win in his first match of the tournament (3-6, 6-2, 6-4), before being defeated by Wisconsin’s Josef Dodridge in three sets.
Senior Nils Hallestrand, freshman Jason Kerst, and sophomore Tony Leto were not able to keep the momentum going in singles action; they were all defeated in the first round.
Even with so many members of the team playing well in singles, they arguably played better in doubles as a whole. Every duo advanced to the next round, while three out of the four winning their first two matches.
The groups of Theodorou/Silverstein, Haden/Jacoby, and Larsen/Allaf all went 2-for-2 on the first day, while the team of Hallestrand/Kerst lost in the Round of 16.
In the singles consolation bracket, Allaf won over Penn State’s Nika Dolidze (6-2, 6-4), and Jacoby picked up a win over Wisconsin’s Chase Colton (2-6, 6-4, 10-7).
Leto advanced by forfeit in his first consolation match, before being defeated by David Kohan of Penn State (7-5, 6-3).
Hallestrand and Kerst fell in their singles and doubles consolation matches as well.
Later in the tournament, the strong duo of Silverstein and Theodorou, as well as the young team of Larsen and Allaf, advanced to the semifinals of doubles action, but Silverstein and Theodorou fell to the No. 1 seed, while Larsen and Allaf fell to the No. 2 seed.
Overall, the fall season was a solid one for the Hawkeyes. Head coach Ross Wilson was able to see what his team could do, including the younger members.
With Silverstein, Allaf, Kerst, Theodorou, Leto, Larsen, and Jacoby all at Iowa for at least one more season after this one, the team is set to have a good spring and future.
