By Nicholas Moreano
The Iowa women’s tennis team split its two matches at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex over the weekend. It started with being shut out, 7-0, on April 7 against Ohio State and ended with a 6-1 victory on Sunday over Penn State.In the April 7 matchup, Ohio State’s No. 22 ranked doubles team of Francesca Di Lorenzo and Miho Kowase defeated Hawkeyes Elise van Heuvelen and Adorabol Huckleby in a tiebreaker (7-6) at the No. 1 spot to clinch the doubles point.
Despite the loss, Huckleby said, she sees the growth that van Heuvelen and she have made since being paired up for the first time against Illinois on March 31.
“I think the more we play together, the more comfortable we get,” Huckleby said. “Also, coming off that match, I think it just gave us a lot of confidence in ourselves and just the way we play.”
Against the Nittany Lions, that confidence showed, and the duo redeemed themselves. The match started with the Nittany Lions duo of Devan McCluskey and Bennett Dunn going up 3-0, and then the Hawkeyes came back and went on to win the match (7-5) to clinch the doubles point.
Hawkeye head coach Sasha Schmid noted the resiliency she saw in her team from the April 7 loss in doubles to Sunday’s win.
“To be able to use that experience and close it out today was great,” Schmid said. “I thought Penn State made a push in [doubles], and I liked the way we responded. It was a decisive, good win for our team, and I think it’s going to be able to increase our confidence.”
After winning the doubles point, the Hawkeyes continued to show that resiliency in singles. The home team went on to win five of the six matches, and three of them went into a third set. Junior Zoe Douglas was first off the court with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over McCluskey. Then Huckleby followed with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Dasha Sapogova.
Junior Anastasia Reimchen, sophomore Kristen Thoms, and van Heuvelen all had their matches go into a third set. Reimchen at No. 3 came away with a 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 victory. Thoms at No. 5 won her match (2-6, 6-2, 6-2), and van Heuvelen at No. 1, ended the day with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-1 win.
The Hawkeyes will be back in action at noon today when they host Wichita State. The Shockers were added to the schedule on April 7 because of the cancellation the Hawkeyes had against Texas-Arlington. It will be a good test for the Hawkeyes and an opportunity to play a nonconference opponent. This season, the Shockers are 11-17 and have been tough to beat on the road, posting a 7-3 record.
Schmid is ecstatic about the opportunity to play the Shockers.
“We are so excited about Wichita State, I think it can be nothing but a positive for us,” she said. “The thing that I told the team is, if you’re lucky enough to make postseason play, you got to play great teams back-to-back-to-back.”
The Hawkeyes know it’s no easy task to make the postseason, but they look forward to the test.
“It’s going to be a challenge the last few, and then we are going to go ahead in postseason and hope to do our very best there,” Douglas said.