Hawkeye tennis seeks to make strong push in Big Ten
Both Iowa tennis teams need to secure wins this week if they want to get bids to the NCAA Tournaments.
Players rest during a changeover during a women’s tennis match between Iowa and Indiana at the HTRC on Sunday, March 31, 2019. The Hawkeyes defeated the Hoosiers, 4-3.
April 4, 2019
Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams continue their long stretch of Big Ten dual matches this weekend. The women’s squad is set to host Rutgers and Maryland, and the men’s team is scheduled to host Penn State and Ohio State.
Without question, this will be the most difficult weekend for the men’s team. Fighting for a shot at the conference title, No. 48 Iowa will have to face two ranked opponents that are ahead of it in the Big Ten standings.
“I think we just have to be mentally strong,” sophomore Will Davies said. “We have to come into the match with the right intensity and right mind set that we can go out and get the job done.”
No. 1 ranked Ohio State enters the matchup against the Hawkeyes with a 5-0 record in conference play. It has won 21 of 22 doubles points this season. Additionally, the Buckeyes also have four ranked singles players, including the No. 1 ranked singles player in the country in J.J. Wolf.
The No. 30 Nittany Lions, too, are no slouches when it comes to doubles. Riding a seven-game winning streak, Penn State boasts the No. 8 ranked doubles team, which has helped it produce a 4-1 record in the Big Ten.
Although things might not be in Iowa’s favor, the Hawkeyes will have a shot at an upset if they can secure the doubles point against both the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions.
This season, Iowa is virtually unbeatable at home when it secures the doubles point, going 9-1 overall in the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex. Iowa’s doubles tandem of Oliver Okonkwo and Davies will get things started for the Hawkeyes — they are ranked 74th nationally in doubles.
“Obviously, it’s a really good feeling [to be ranked with Oliver]; we played together in the fall and had a pretty decent semester,” Davies said. “It’s good to get the results of improving, especially during this stage of the season, obviously, with Big Ten play.”
Perhaps if Iowa can pull off the upset, it can finally reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
RELATED: Iowa women’s tennis turns season around with big wins
The women’s team is also seeking to improve on its impressive home record. This season, Iowa is just 3-5 on the road but 6-1 at home. And with its next three matches on campus, including Rutgers and Maryland this weekend, Iowa (2-4) will try to get back to .500 in the conference.
“It feels really good [to have a chance to get back to .500],” freshman Michelle Bacalla said. “We had a pretty rough start with our conference play, but seeing these two wins really gave us insight on how far we’ve come from the beginning of the year to now, and how much we’ve grown, and how much work we put in, and how ready we for the rest of the season.”
In order for that to happen, Iowa is going to need to come out of the gate swinging and secure the doubles point. In the last five dual matches, the Hawkeyes have failed to win doubles point three times, resulting in three loses.
If they manage to do so, Iowa will have a good chance to continue its two-match winning streak against Big Ten teams and could even surpass its win total from last year (10).
“I think for sure we are excited to keep continuing to play well and have an opportunity to move up in the Big Ten standings,” head coach Sasha Schmid said. “Ultimately, we want to be able to finish strong and get as the highest seed as possible going into the Big Ten Tournament. So each match presents a good opportunity for us to do that and then hoping we can gain confidence and momentum from last weekend as we finish out these last five dual matches.”
