By Jess Westendorf
On Monday at Nebraska, one Hawkeye stood above the rest in the women’s tennis competition.
Iowa women’s tennis star Elise van Heuvelen took the podium in Lincoln after winning the women’s singles championship at the Summer Circuit.
Heuvelen entered the tournament as the top seed in the tournament, and she definitely played like one. The sophomore from Seaford, East Sussex, England, won four matches for the victory.
The best came in the finals against No. 3 seed Claire Reifeis. Van Heuvelen handed Reifeis a 6-1, 6-1 loss for the title.
Van Heuvelen defeated Emma Worley (6-2, 6-1), No. 8 seed Kathryn Hall (6-1, 6-2), and No. 4 seed Jessica Aragon (6-4, 6-2) before beating Reifeis.
She didn’t stop there.
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Van Heuvelen also played in the women’s doubles tournament with senior teammate Zoe Douglas of Papworth Everard, England. The pair won their way to the finals, then fell short, 8-7 in the finals round.
The duo had consecutive 8-0 shutouts to dominate before that.
It was not the first time that the two have been paired. In the fall of 2016 Heuvelen and Douglas rocked the team stats by earning a team-best 11-5 in the doubles, and this past spring, the two teamed up again to finish with a 10-2 record, leading the team.
Van Heuvelen finished her freshman year with numerous honors, including first-team All-Big Ten as well as Big Ten Freshman of the Year. She also recorded a 16-5 record (6-3 without Douglas) at the No. 1 doubles position.
She also tied with Douglas for the team lead in singles with a 13-9 record and finished with an overall record of 27-10.
