For a team that finished 10th in the Big Ten last season, Iowa finished its fall season with a glimmer of hope, yet the rest offered little to be excited about. Iowa shone at its final tournament, but the team was inconsistent in most of its other four outings.
Not quite the start they wanted
Senior Josh Silverstein and sophomore Kareem Allaf represented Iowa in their first competition of the year, the Milwaukee Classic, on Sept. 21. Silverstein headed into the tournament as a high-seeded singles player and showed it on the first day of play. He won both of his matches to advance to the tournament’s quarterfinals. But there, he fell to Minnesota’s Stefan Milicevic, who was unranked in the tournament, in straight sets (7-5, 6-0).
Allaf fell in his first singles match of the tournament to Josh Howard-Tripp of Arkansas (6-3, 6-2).
As a pair, Silverstein and Allaf topped Marquette’s pair of Luis Heredia Gomez and Alvaro Verdu in a close match (9-8). Then, the Iowa team beat Virginia Tech’s duo of Carlo Donato and Mitch Harper (8-2). The pair fell in the semifinals Old Dominion’s Jacob Noclussi and Michael Weindl.
“Kareem and I competed but just couldn’t quite get it done,” Silverstein said in a release. “Overall, it was a very good first tournament of the fall, but I expect more out of me and hope to get better results at the All-American Tournament.”
The notable performances from Silverstein and Allaf failed to play into the team’s next competitions.
Middle of the season slump
Following the Milwaukee Classic, the team competed in three more events prior to the Big Ten Singles and Doubles Championships: the All-American Championships, the Bobby Bayliss Invitational, and the regional.
At the All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Hawkeye squad was only able to place Silverstein in the Round of 64, where he fell to Noe Khlif of Illinois.
Head coach Ross Wilson sent junior Jonas Larsen and freshman Piotr Smietana to compete at the Bobby Bayliss Invitational at Notre Dame. Larsen quickly fell his first singles match of the tournament, but Smietana did not. The freshman notched his first college win against Kennosuke Nouchi of Western Michigan. Later that day, the pair of Larsen and Smietana fell in doubles to Wisconsin’s Robert Kirill and David Soyfer.
The next day saw Larsen win a singles match, but he fell to Chris Patzanovsky of Memphis, and Smietana lost in both of his singles matches that day as well. The third day saw both athletes fall again in singles, but the duo secured a doubles win to conclude their tournament.
Iowa’s fourth event of the year, the regional, was a step in the right direction for the Hawkeyes. In the team’s first fall event in which the entire squad was present, one member shone above the rest.
Allaf was able to successfully work his way through the singles tournament to the Round of 16, after all of his teammates had been beaten.
Throughout the fall season, the team was unable to secure wins in close matches, resulting in falling out of tournaments early and often. The Big Ten Singles and Doubles Tournament proved otherwise.
Freshmen flourish in final spotlight
Iowa’s freshman class proved to be the shining light at the end of the tunnel. Wilson’s small team of eight comprises three freshmen: Will Davies, Joe Tyler, and Smietana. They struggled early in the fall but found their grooves at the final tournament of the year.
In doubles, the freshman pair of Davies and Smietana tore through the tournament. The two ended their fall season as the runner-up doubles team in the Big Ten. To add to his success, Smietana advanced to the Round of 16 in singles, where he was joined by fellow freshman Tyler.