By the Numbers: Iowa women’s tennis poised to surprise this season
Last season was very memorable for Iowa women’s tennis. However, building blocks like a solid home record set Iowa up for an exciting campaign.
Iowa’s Elise Van Heuvelen Treadwell celebrates a point during a women’s tennis match between Iowa and Rutgers at the HTRC on Friday, April 5, 2019. The Hawkeyes defeated the Scarlet Knights, 6-1.
September 10, 2019
The Gopher Invite is coming up next weekend, which means Hawkeye tennis is back.
The Hawkeye women’s tennis team lead by Elise Van Heuvelen Treadwell and company is gearing up for another season. As the Hawkeyes get ready for the new year, they will undoubtedly reflect on the previous season. This is what the numbers say went right, wrong, and otherwise for the women’s tennis team in 2019.
13-12 – Iowa’s record in 2018-19
In 2018-19, Iowa posted an overall record of 13-12 on the season.
Last season, Iowa tallied up 13 wins overall, eight of which took place at home. The Hawkeyes’ home success proved that the magic must be in the water at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex.
Likewise, the men posted an impressive 14-2 record at home. The men’s and women’s tennis teams posted a combined 22-4 record in matches played in Iowa City last season.
Seven of the Hawkeyes’ 12 losses came on the road last season. Iowa was also relatively unsuccessful in neutral site matches, posting a 2-3 record overall.
.364 – Big Ten Conference win percentage
The 2018-19 Big Ten Conference play season was not kind to the Hawkeyes. Being competitive against conference opponents is key for any team, and Iowa was not able to bring its best against Big Ten foes.
Iowa posted a 4-7 overall record in conference play. That said, that Hawkeyes faced stiff competition in the Big Ten last season.
Three Big Ten teams found their way inside the Intercollegiate Tennis Association top 25; Northwestern, Ohio State and, Michigan all crept into the rankings at some point last year.
Iowa was unable to beat any of these three ranked teams last season, meaning its record against ranked opponents was 0-3 last season. The Hawkeyes will again face off against some of the best teams in the country again this season, and being competitive in those games will be key.
RELATED: By the Numbers: Iowa men’s tennis aiming to build on positives
72 – singles match wins
The 2018-19 season proved to be an average season for the Hawkeyes in singles matches.
Iowa earned 72 singles match wins in last season out of 141 matches. Iowa’s win percentage in singles matches was only .511 last season, a decent mark that will likely need to improve if Iowa wants to take a step forward this season. Overall, the Hawkeyes went 72-69 last season.
38 – doubles match wins
In doubles matches last season, the Iowa women were extremely solid. The Hawkeye doubles teams posted a 38-28 overall record in doubles matches. Iowa was able to earn the doubles point in 15 of their 25 matches. The Hawkeyes were 11-4 in matches when they earned the doubles point.
Last season likely won’t be the type of season the Iowa women’s tennis will remember forever. Average overall records, Big Ten records, road match records and singles match records led to a forgettable season for women’s tennis. Iowa has lots of work to do – but the experience to do it – in order to make this season more memorable.
