The Iowa women’s tennis team will continue its schedule this weekend with a home matchup against Rutgers on April 14, followed by a visit from Maryland two days later.

The Hawkeyes are 9-8 on the season, and their 5-4 conference record is good enough to tie them for sixth place in the Big Ten with Purdue. Even though the Scarlet Knights are also 9-8, they have yet to win a conference match. Meanwhile, the Terrapins are 14-6 on the season but own a 3-4 conference record, standing tied at eighth place with Penn State in the Big Ten rankings.

Critical conference competition  

With just four conference matches remaining on the Hawkeyes’ schedule, these two duals will be vital competition for Iowa as it seeks a high seed in the Big Ten Tournament in West Lafayette starting on April 26.

“I think every match the rest of the way is going to be really, really important,” Hawkeye head coach Sasha Schmid told The Daily Iowan at practice on Wednesday. “I think we’re going to have a lot of competitive [singles] matches, so I can’t really single any of them out. I think we’re going to need a complete effort at all doubles spots and singles spots.”

Heading into their 5 p.m. faceoff against Iowa, the Scarlet Knights are mired in a slump. After notching off four consecutive wins from Feb. 10 to Feb. 18, Rutgers has dropped seven of its last eight competitions, the only victory being a 7-0 triumph over Southern University. Six of those seven losses were at the hands of Big Ten opponents. During their current three-match losing streak, the Scarlet Knights have put up just two points.

The weather forecast on Friday bodes well for outdoor competition, which will be the fourth time the Hawkeyes have played outdoors this spring season. In their first outdoor match on April 2 against Indiana in Iowa City, the Hawkeyes dropped a 4-2 decision after winning the doubles point. For Iowa freshman Daianne Hayashida, being able to practice outside the past couple of weeks has made a difference in comfortability.

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“I think we’re going to have more experience outdoors because with Indiana we hadn’t practiced [outside],” Hayashida said. “But now I think we feel better, and the weather is really nice [right now].”

On April 16, the Hawkeyes will square off against Maryland with play starting at 10 a.m. Headlining the Terrapin team is senior Selma Cadar. The Bucharest, Romania, native was a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection last season, posting a 10-5 singles record at the No. 1 slot. In Maryland’s past two matches against Northwestern and Illinois, Cadar has occupied the third spot, going 1-0 with one unfinished match.

Cadar could potentially face Hayashida this weekend, as the Lima, Peru, native, has held on to the third singles spot for the Black and Gold in the past two matches. Hayashida is also 1-0 with one unfinished match during that stretch.

In Hayashida’s most recent win, a straight-set victory over Ioana Gheorghita of Penn State, the freshman won the first set, 6-0, but allowed the Nittany Lion to tie the second set at five games apiece before pulling away with a 7-5 victory.

“Maybe in those moments when I have more pressure like I just have one more point to win … I’d be more calm and not rush into points,” Hayashida said.

Mannix moving up

Sunday’s match against Maryland is Senior Day for the Hawkeyes, which means the final home competition for Iowa fifth-year senior Samantha Mannix, who has recently taken the No. 1 singles spot.

Before Iowa’s April 7 match against Penn State, the Elkhorn, Nebraska, native won four straight finished matches, and against the Nittany Lions, Mannix played at the No. 1 slot for the first time this spring. Mannix swapped spots with Iowa sophomore Marisa Schmidt, who occupied the No. 2 spot at Happy Valley.

“I think Sam has been playing really well and had a lot of confidence,” Schmid said. “So we made a switch. I think Marisa has been having a great season too. Just a matter of feeling like who had the best momentum, and Sam was coming off a really good weekend.”

Mannix was defeated in straight sets against Sofiya Chekhlystova, a 2022 All-Big Ten first-team member. Then on April 9 against Ohio State, Mannix remained in the top spot but dropped a straight-set decision to then-21st-ranked Irina Cantos Siemers.

At the No. 2 spot for both of those matches, Schmidt went 1-0 with one unfinished match.