Iowa tennis ends Big Tens in quarterfinals
Both Hawkeye tennis teams managed to win their first Big Ten Tournament matches before falling in the second round.
Iowa’s Jason Kerst hits a forehand during a men’s tennis match between Iowa and Illinois State at the HTRC on Sunday, April 21, 2019. The Hawkeyes defeated the Redbirds, 6-1.
April 27, 2019
Neither Iowa tennis team to finished their respective seasons on a win as they both fell in the Big Ten Tournament over the weekend.
The No. 42 men’s team, which won four-consecutive matches entering the tournament, dominated its first matchup in the conference tournament.
Iowa came out determined against Big Ten foe Nebraska and secured the doubles point handily, 2-0. The Hawkeyes then continued their winning ways on court six where they improved to 13-0 on the season when Jason Kerst won in straight sets.
No. 112 ranked singles player Kareem Allaf and Will Davies then followed suit with straight sets victories as well to lift the Hawkeyes, 4-0, over the Huskers in the first round.
“It was great to come out today and get a convincing win in the first round,” Iowa head coach Ross Wilson said in a release. “Tomorrow’s match will be a battle, but I know the team is ready to fight.”
Advancing to the quarterfinals, Iowa went head-to-head against No. 35 Penn State in a rematch of an earlier regular-season matchup when the Hawkeyes bested it, 4-3, on April 5.
Iowa dropped the doubles point before falling to the Nittany Lions in a clean sweep, 4-0, to conclude its regular season. The Hawkeyes lost on courts one through three in straight sets.
On a brighter note, Iowa still managed to finish the regular season with 18 victories, the most in a single season for the Iowa men’s tennis program since 1991 (18).
The women’s team followed suit, besting its first conference opponent in the tournament: Indiana.
No. 10 seed Iowa took down the No. 7 seed Hoosiers on Thursday in the opening round of the 2019 Big Ten Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Hawkeyes won its first tournament win after winning, 4-2, over Indiana to gain its first conference tournament victory since 2014 when they defeated No. 75 Michigan State, 4-2.
“Today was simply a huge win for our team,” head coach Sasha Schmid said in a release. “I’m so proud of them. This was a very hard fought back and forth match, and our team really competed hard to win this match.”
Elise van Heuvelen Treadwell, Samantha Mannix, and Danielle Burich all earned singles wins.
In the second round against No. 40 Wisconsin, Iowa fought hard after dropping the doubles point. The Hawkeyes won three of six singles matches before getting edged out, 4-3.
Although Iowa could not finish the season with a win, it still concluded the season on a high note.
The Hawkeyes won 13 matches this season, which is the most under Schmid and third-most since the 2009-10 season.
“Our team grew so much this year,” Schmid said in a release. “We had a young team, and they all worked hard and really martyred in every way this year. I’m really proud of this group. They played hard today and came up a bit short. It’s tough right now, but once we all can reflect on the season and this match we will be very proud and motivated for the future. We have a group of great young woman on our team and I’m very excited about the future of Hawkeye tennis.”
