It was a step in the right direction for the Hawkeyes women’s tennis team as it split 1-1 on the road this past weekend against heavy competitors, Notre Dame and Northwestern. The Hawkeyes entered the March 3 match against the Fighting Irish with plenty of momentum from last week’s lopsided victories over Marquette and Bradley.

That momentum translated into a sizzling-hot start. Senior Anastasia Reimchen and sophomore Elise van Heuvelen started Iowa off with a 6-2 win in doubles over Cameron Corse and Zoe Spence. The Hawkeyes followed that with another win before closing out doubles play with a tie. Iowa victories in doubles play earned them a 1-0 lead against the Irish heading into singles.

When singles play arrived, the Hawkeyes won a closely contested battle, 4-2. Reimchen started Iowa off by dropping the first singles match (6-3, 6-2), allowing Notre Dame to tie it at 1. Zoe Douglas and Adorabol Huckleby shifted the energy back to the Hawkeyes with convincing victories in straight sets, giving Iowa a 3-1 lead until the Irish fought back with a win, as Ally Bojczuk defeated Montana Crawford (6-2, 6-5).

Next, Yufei Long at the No. 1 position sought to secure the first victory for the Hawkeyes against Notre Dame since 1999. After forcing a third-set tiebreaker, Long was able to defeat Notre Dame’s Brooke Broda (3-3, 6-3, 6-4).

Head coach Sasha Schmid was impressed with how the team handled adversity in its 5-2 win over Notre Dame.

“This win today was a good step forward for our team,” Schmid said in a release. “We wanted to put ourselves in position to win, then play well when those opportunities arrived. We have to feel positive about today.”

Despite that uplifting victory for the Hawkeyes, sadly, Iowa was not able to put itself in the same position against Northwestern on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes lost convincingly to the Wildcats, 6-1, at the Combe Tennis Center in Evanston, Illinois. Although it was a one-sided affair, it didn’t look that way from the start.

The Hawkeyes shocked the crowd as sophomore Elise van Heuvelen and senior Anastasia Reimchen upset 13th ranked Alex Chatt and Lee Or (6-3).

But besides that early victory, it was a long day for the Hawkeyes and their fans. No. 2 ranked doubles partners, Erin Larner and Maddie Lipp from the Wildcats defeated Long and Douglas, and senior Montana Crawford and junior Adorabol Huckleby dropped their match at the No. 3 position.

When it got to singles play, Northwestern dominated from start to finish, handing defeats to Douglas, Crawford, Huckleby, and Reimchen. Even Iowa’s bright spot, freshman Yufei Long lost her first match to No. 85 Larner (6-3,6-4). The loss was the first for Long of the season in singles play.

But even though the Hawkeyes didn’t come out of the weekend with two wins, Schmid is happy with how her team competed this weekend.

“The team battled today against a tough Northwestern team. Its tough to be short but I’m proud of our group and really happy for Elise and Anastasia’s win in doubles and Elise in singles,” said Schmid in a release. “I like the way we are improving from match to match. I am excited to back on the court Wednesday at Iowa State.”