Iowa women’s tennis senior Vipasha Mehra hopes her tennis career will culminate in a final season of many memories.

Mehra, who was born in India, moved around often in her childhood. She lived in England, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada — in which she considers Calgary her hometown — before settling down in Iowa City upon her commitment to play tennis for the University of Iowa.

She looked for the team culture and coaches when deciding on a college, and she found those aspects immediately upon landing in Iowa.

“I visited a bunch of other schools, and I just got along really well with all the girls here and the coaches,” Mehra said. “Nothing felt forced or anything like that. I could just see myself living here.”

Last year, Mehra had a 20-11 doubles record alongside her now-sophomore partner Daianne Hayashida. The season included a match-clinching point at the Big Ten Tournament against Indiana, which she said was one of her favorite memories of her career.

But most of Mehra’s favorite memories consist of simply spending time with her teammates, who she’s around most of the time.

“Whenever we hang out or grab food, it’s just always so fun,” Mehra said. “We’re all so close. I just love hanging out with my teammates.”

Going into her final season as the lone senior on the roster, Mehra wants the memories to continue as she makes the most of her time at Iowa.

She also noted the university’s academic and athletic culture as a draw to the UI. As a biology major on the pre-dental track, she wanted to find a place where she could take her academics seriously and still have a competitive tennis career.

Mehra is a three-time letter winner going into her senior season. She earned Dean’s List honors in the 2023 spring semester and Academic All-Big Ten honors last season, which she said rewarded her for the hard work she’s been putting in off the court over the last few years.

She found the accolade important to her as a student-athlete because of how time-consuming and stressful it is to be a student-athlete balancing school and tennis practice.

Upon graduation, Mehra plans on taking a gap year from her education to figure out what she’d like to do and where she’d like to go next.

“For now, I just want to take some time to work and make my application stronger,” Mehra said. “I’ve had 16 years in a row now with school, so I’m very excited to be finished and do things I haven’t really been able to do.”

Mehra feels like the Hawkeyes have a good chance to make a solid run this season. But individually, she wants to keep working hard and fighting for every match until the end.

“I want to treat every match the same,” she said. “It’s my last season, and I want to make the most of it, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on it. I just want to keep working hard and see how it unfolds.”

Mehra and the Iowa women’s tennis team are set to kick off their season on Sept. 24 in the University of North Carolina Charlotte-hosted Charlotte Invitational in North Carolina.