By Jake Markowitz
Big Ten play continues for the Iowa men’s tennis team this weekend, when it travels to the Dillon Tennis Center to take on Nebraska.
Iowa (8-4) is coming off an impressive weekend, defeating two of the three teams that traveled here, including a win over a strong Utah team that previously had only lost to No. 1 Ohio State and New Mexico. The Hawkeyes were able to put together their first winning streak in over month, taking three in a row dating back to a Feb. 19 match against Denver.
Even though the weekend ended in a loss in its first match against a Big Ten foe, the Hawkeyes were not deterred; there is more conference competition ahead of them.
“Our mindsets aren’t going to change from here,” freshman Jason Kerst said. “We have been doing all the right things through the last six weeks in a very tough nonconference schedule.”
No. 31 Wisconsin proved to be a tough opponent for the Hawkeyes. However, Nebraska (2-7) has not enjoyed the same success as the 9-2 Badgers. Before Feb. 25, the Cornhuskers had lost their previous five matches by a combined 29-0. However, since that date, Nebraska has found its stride, winning two matches in a row against Missouri-Kansas City and Creighton.
The Hawkeyes will try to secure their first conference win, riding the hot hand of redshirt freshman Kareem Allaf. Heading into conference play, he stood at 8-3 on the season, an incredible feat when you take in the comparison that Tyler Cleveland, the first student-athlete in conference history to be named the Big Ten’s Sportsman of the Year and Athlete of the Year in the same season, only finished with six nonconference wins that season.
“Going into every match, you have to compete and fight,” Allaf said in a release. “When I was like [three or four] matches in, I just got mentally better, started focusing more and competing harder, and I think it’s paid off ever since.”
While Allaf tries to continue his momentum, others will look for success from last year to resurface. In 2015, the Hawkeyes took down the Cornhuskers, 4-2, in Lincoln. Juniors, Josh Silverstein, Lefteris Theodorou, and Jake Jacoby all came home with a win.
“Every Big Ten match is important and a battle for us,” head coach Ross Wilson said. “We’ve done a great job of bringing our effort.”
Iowa has played Nebraska 18 times in the program’s history. The two schools have come out even, winning nine matches apiece. The Hawkeyes want to break that tie, and they have the confidence in themselves to do so.