Iowa women’s tennis defeats Rutgers, snaps 13-match losing streak
The Hawkeyes took down the Scarlet Knights, 4-1, to end their longest losing streak in program history.
Iowa’s Marisa Schmidt serves the ball during a tennis match between Iowa and Drake at Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex in Iowa City on Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022. Schmidt defeated Drake’s Ines Stephani. Iowa beat Drake, 6-1.
April 10, 2022
Iowa women’s tennis snapped a 13-match losing streak on Sunday afternoon, defeating Rutgers in New Jersey, 4-1.
Iowa collected the doubles point for the first time in 11 duals at the Rutgers Tennis Complex, as the doubles duo of Marisa Schmidt-Vipasha Mehra defeated Rutgers’ Jackeline Lopez-Kristiana Zahare (6-3), and the Hawkeye team of Barbora Pokorna-Michelle Bacalla took down Daira Cardenas and Sydney Kaplan (6-2).
Iowa’s top three singles spots all collected victories, forcing two singles matches to go unfinished.
In the No. 1 singles match, Schmidt prevailed over Rutgers’ Tess Fisher in two sets (6-2, 6-2).
Meanwhile, in the No. 2 singles spot, Samantha Mannix defeated Rutgers’ Jackeline Lopez (6-2, 6-3), and Pokorna took down Minchae Kim (6-1, 6-4).
“I am happy for the team. It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to get four points and string them together in a quality match,” head coach Sasha Schmid said in a Sunday release. “I’m really happy that they had a chance to work together as a team, and we are hoping to be able to create some momentum for another road match at Michigan State later this week.”
Before the Hawkeyes won their first match in nearly two months, Iowa fell to Maryland, 5-2, on Friday at the Junior Tennis Champions Center.
In the No. 1 doubles spot, Maryland’s Selm Cadar and Mary Brumfield defeated Mannix and Samatha Gillas (6-1).
Meanwhile, Maryland’s Minorka Miranda and Marta Perez Mur narrowly defeated Schmidt and Mehra (7-6), to collect the doubles point.
Iowa collected two singles wins in the afternoon. Samantha Gillas defeated Maryland’s Jojo Bach handily (6-1, 6-2) in the No. 5 singles spot. Pokorna defeated Maryland’s Minorka Miranda (7-6 (3), 6-3) in the No. 3 singles spot.
Big Picture
Iowa collected its first 2022 Big Ten victory on Sunday to move to 1-7 in the conference. The Hawkeyes are 5-14 overall.
Iowa has three more matches in the regular season before hosting the Big Ten Championships at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex.
Up Next
Iowa will travel to East Lansing, Michigan, on Thursday to take on Michigan State at 4 p.m.
The Spartans are 9-9 overall and 1-6 in Big Ten conference matches this season. The Spartans are currently on a six game losing streak.
