Freshmen aren’t always known as the most confident and composed individuals participating in collegiate athletics. Iowa’s Erika Dodridge challenged this widely accepted belief Sunday by winning the D Draw at the Gopher Invite.

“It was an amazing first tournament experience,” said Dodridge. “The level was surprisingly high. It was super good tennis. It was really eye-opening to see how hard these teams are working.”

Dodridge’s tournament win in her first collegiate outing was nothing short of wildly impressive. Not only did Dodridge win, she dominated. The freshman phenom didn’t allow any of her matches to go to a third set over the course of the entire weekend.

In her first match, Dodridge defeated Northern Iowa’s Kim Zizek in two sets. In those two sets, Dodridge only allowed one ball to get by her. She won 6-1 in the first set and 6-0 in the second. In the semifinal, Dodridge defeated Minnesota’s Lucia de Santa Ana in straight sets by the same score, 6-4.

After winning her semifinal match, the only thing standing between Dodridge and a Gopher Invite title was a Cyclone. Iowa State’s Oumaima Aziz met Dodridge in the finals. Iowa’s rising star dispatched Aziz, 7-6 and 6-3.

Dodridge is naturally friendly, but once on the tennis court, she becomes an absolute competitor. The freshman is a mercenary with one goal in mind: winning.

“I just tried to have as much energy as I could on the court,” Dodridge said. “I was just trying to break my opponents down mentally. Getting super pumped, that’s what I love to do on the court.”

Dodridge was also able to find success in doubles play. Over the course of six matches, Dodridge went 3-3. Teammate Danielle Burich partnered with Dodridge on Sept. 20 and Sunday. Cloe Ruette served as Dodridge’s partner on Sept. 21. Ruette and Dodridge went 1-1, while Burich and Dodridge went 2-2 on the weekend.

Despite all the success, Erika Dodridge remains humble. She is quick to deflect praise off of herself and on to her coaches and teammates. The freshman credits her coach and the training staff for much of her early success in 2019.

“Our practice schedule has been super intense,” Dodridge said. We’ve been putting a real emphasis on the physical aspect of the sport. We’ve been training super hard. [Head coach] Sasha [Schmid] and [program coordinator] Danny [Leitner] have done a really great job excelling this program. We have such great depth on our team. Everyone is hungry and working incredibly hard.”

The future is undoubtedly bright for Erika Dodridge. There is no telling how high the ceiling might be for her this season and beyond. She may prove to be a key addition to this Hawkeye program. One thing that is certain ­­­— Dodridge is not satisfied with just one tournament victory.

“At tournaments, there is nowhere to hide when you’re on the court,” Dodridge said. “It really highlighted a lot of things I need to work on. For me, it’s super easy to stay motivated because I think I can always do better.”